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Title details for Stone Mattress by Margaret Atwood - Available

Stone Mattress

Nine Tales

by Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
A collection of highly imaginative short pieces that speak to our times with deadly accuracy. Vintage Atwood creativity, intelligence, and humor: think Alias Grace.
Margaret Atwood turns to short fiction for the first time since her 2006 collection, Moral Disorder, with nine tales of acute psychological insight and turbulent relationships bringing to mind her award-winning 1996 novel, Alias Grace. A recently widowed fantasy writer is guided through a stormy winter evening by the voice of her late husband in "Alphinland," the first of three loosely linked stories about the romantic geometries of a group of writers and artists. In "The Freeze-Dried Bridegroom," a man who bids on an auctioned storage space has a surprise. In "Lusus Naturae," a woman born with a genetic abnormality is mistaken for a vampire. In "Torching the Dusties," an elderly lady with Charles Bonnet syndrome comes to terms with the little people she keeps seeing, while a newly formed populist group gathers to burn down her retirement residence. And in "Stone Mattress," a long-ago crime is avenged in the Arctic via a 1.9 billion-year-old stromatolite. In these nine tales, Margaret Atwood is at the top of her darkly humorous and seriously playful game.
List of Stories and Narrators:
·         “Alphinland” and  “Torching the Dusties” read by Lorna Raver
·         “Revenant” read by Mark Bramhall
·         "Dark Lady” and  “The Dead Hand Loves You” read by Arthur Morey
·         “Lusus Naturae” read by Emily Rankin
·         “The Freeze-Dried Groom” read by Rob Delaney
·         “I Dream of Zenia with the Bright Red Teeth” read by Bernadette Dunne
·         “Stone Mattress” read by Margaret Atwood

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    September 16, 2014

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780553546057
      • File size: 289087 KB
      • Duration: 10:02:15

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Nine provocative tales are divided among seven utterly capable voices. The result is an often startling, sometimes humorous, and always satisfying exploration of the human condition. Lorna Raver is clearly energized and engaged with the characters, and her low-pitched voice lends itself well to the stories that open and close the collection, each featuring an older woman who is struggling to balance reality and imagination. Also performing double duty, Arthur Morey is deliberate with pace and pronunciation as he navigates the murky intersection of biography and storytelling. Though she's tasked with the shortest story, Emily Rankin's memorable performance belies the innocence of a character whose genetic condition is mistaken for vampirism. The highlight is Margaret Atwood's reading of the titular story. Her understated delivery and low tones are a chilling combination in this pointed tale of revenge. A.S. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from July 28, 2014
      Atwood, a bestselling master of fiction, delivers a stunning collectionâher first since 2006's Moral Disorder. Most of the nine stories feature women who have been wronged as girls but recover triumphantly as adults. Atwood brings her biting wit to bear on the battle of the sexes. The first three stories in the bookâ"Alphinland," "Revenant," and "Dark Lady"âare linked by a pretentious poet and his girlfriends, who best him professionally and personally as he ages into an impotent, disgruntled old man with a wife 30 years his junior: "He probably has more horns on his headâas the bard would sayâthan a hundred headed snail." Corpses are found, as in "The Freeze-Dried Groom"âor not found, as in the title story, set on an Arctic cruise, in which a woman takes her revenge on the high school "Mr. Hearthrob, Mr. Senior Football Star, Mr. Astounding Catch... Mr. Shit" of 50 years before. Readers love Atwood's women, despite, or because of, who they are and what they do. Add in her wild imaginationâwomen conversing with dead husbands; genetic missteps that produce a girl with yellow eyes, pink teeth, and "long, dark chest hair"; and costumed "little people" who appear to an elderly nursing home residentâand it's clear that this grande dame is at the top of her game.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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