Oh boy. It's NOT science fiction, eh?

[salanth]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/atwood-have-i-ever-eaten-maggots-perhaps/article1284530/

What the book absolutely is not, she insists, is science fiction - a statement she has made repeatedly since the 2003

Comments

[karen_w_newton]

I have never bought one of her books for just that reason. Why should I pay her to trash my genre all the while using its tropes in her works?

[stevegreen]

Atwood's a dimwit. Had no quibbles about accepting the cash from her Arthur C Clarke Award, IIRC.

[shivi]

Eh, I think this article's making Atwood come off way more dismissive of the genre than she actually is. Here's what she's written herself:
"I have written two works of science fiction or, if you prefer, speculative fiction: The Handmaid's Tale and Oryx and Crake."
"For me, the science fiction label belongs on books with things in them that we can't yet do, such as going through a wormhole in space to another universe; and speculative fiction means a work that employs the means already to hand, such as DNA identification and credit cards, and that takes place on Planet Earth. But the terms are fluid."

It's a bit disappointing, but she's hardly the only author to disagree with her audience about writing genre fiction.

[thefirstalicat]

Interesting, because I recall very clearly that when A Handmaid's Tale was published, she specifically denied that it was sf in any way, shape or form. So maybe in 10 years' time she'll come around to saying her new book (something with Flood in the title) is sf, after all?

[thefirstalicat]

She's made such "sf? balderdash! my stuff's Literature!" comments before, very annoying. But then she comes across in every interview I've ever read, heard or seen as incredibly disdainful and snobbish, so maybe we don't want her in the sf world {g}.

I suggest that when the new book comes out, we all go to our respective big box bookstores and upon seeing her novel in the "literary" section (or even the "new" section), either physically move them to the sf/f section (if there are only a few copies), or point out to a staff person that they have misidentified this book and it belongs in science fiction. Maybe that'll larn her....