Occasional nice imagery and turns of phrase, but to no discernible purpose. Some of the stories dipped into already existing folktales/stories in an attempt to highlight a specific character or uncommon angle, but they were always too short for me to derive any meaning. Most of them felt like writing exercises meant to inspire new ideas or allow the author to practice but weren't strong enough for publication. The two exceptions were Simmering (great satire) and The Victory Burlesk (well demonstrated point). ( )

A funny little book with scraps of her work. Like notes, ideas, musings to be perhaps expanded one day. I read it to get an idea of her work not having any of her work. I guess it showed her fertile imagination and ability to look at things in many different ways. ( )

A collection of short stories with themes of death, bodies, and dark things. Brilliant language.

A favorite of mine is "Poppies: Three Variations". Atwood takes a five-line poem by John McCrae and uses all of its words (in order) to write three different page-long stories. ( )

Short, sharp pieces, to be savored. Among my favorites: "Gertrude Talks Back," "My Life as a Bat," and "Simmering." ( )

This was like a peek into Atwood riffing on ideas, plots, themes. It was like she was auditioning them, seeing what she could do with them, exercising them, putting them through their paces, marking them off with a stopwatch -- go! Wonderful. ( )