Choice 评论
In the preface to this volume, Howells (Univ. of London, UK) promises "a comprehensive overview " of Atwood's work. However, her prefatory claim that "all chapters have been updated" and several "substantially rewritten" from the first edition (CH, Jan'07, 44-2561) is misleading: some have been more extensively revised than others. Some of the new or newly revised chapters reflect the growing interest in Atwood's MaddAddam trilogy (2003--13): Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood, and MaddAddam. Most of the predominantly European contributors are more interested in Atwood's recent novels than in her poetry or literary criticism or her profound engagements with Canadian culture. Two chapters are nonetheless outstanding. In "Margaret Atwood and Environmentalism," J. Brooks Bouson finds in 21st-century radical environmentalism an instructive contrast for reading Crake as either a "mad" or a "rational" scientist who attempts to solve "the unfolding ecological crisis." In "The Hulu and MGM Television Adaptations of The Handmaid's Tale," Eva-Marie Kröller documents the fiercely conflicted responses to recent adaptations of Atwood's work in various media. Given the overlaps, this book is recommended only for libraries that do not own the first edition. Summing Up: Recommended. With the above caveat. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers. --Tracy Ware, emeritus, Queen's University at Kingston