Margaret Atwood auctioning an “unburnable” copy of Handmaid’s Tale in response to book bans
Atwood took a flamethrower to her novel to raise money for PEN America
Aux News Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood has responded to the threat of book burning with a very literal solution: she made The Handmaid’s Tale “unburnable.” The author is auctioning off a very special edition of the story in protest of the rise of book bans across the country.
Penguin Random House announced the auction with a dramatic video in which the 82-year-old writer wields a flamethrower against her novel that’s printed on fire-resistant paper with a flame retardant cover. The concept is so out there it almost looks like a comedy sketch, but Atwood looks undeniably badass shooting flames.
In a statement (via The Guardian), the Penguin Random House said, “Across the United States and around the world, books are being challenged, banned and even burned. So we created a special edition of a book that’s been challenged and banned for decades.” The publishing company described the new printing as “designed to protect this vital story and stand as a powerful symbol against censorship.”
“I never thought I’d be trying to burn one of my own books… and failing. The Handmaid’s Tale has been banned many times—sometimes by whole countries, such as Portugal and Spain in the days of Salazar and the Francoists, sometimes by school boards, sometimes by libraries,” Atwood said in her own statement, per People.
She continued, “Let’s hope we don’t reach the stage of wholesale book burnings, as in Fahrenheit 451. But if we do, let’s hope some books will prove unburnable—that they will travel underground, as prohibited books did in the Soviet Union.”
“The Unburnable Book” is being auctioned by Sotheby’s in New York through June 7. As of this writing, the price has already risen to $45,000. Proceeds from the sale will go towards PEN America, an organization dedicated to freedom of expression and fighting censorship in literature. Hopefully the auction makes an impact, because putting a flamethrower in Atwood’s hands probably isn’t a long-term solution–tempting as it may be.
28 Comments
Love.
Da CapoForever Changes
The fucking irony of her using noted feminist L. Ron Musk’s neckbeard roofing torch is hilarious.
L. Ron Musk is my new go to. Lmao
That’s. Fucking. Awesome.
Sounds like a challenge to me.
You’re going to have burn through a lot of money if you want to burn this book. Good luck!
Always worth reading on the subject of libraries banning books:https://themillions.com/2012/03/ban-this-book-an-uncensored-look-at-the-lorax-and-other-dangerous-books.html
I love this.
Not that censoring books is ok, but shouldn’t they be like recycling them by now? Not that I expect the kind of people who ban books to be environmentalists.
Even more than that, book burning is for the symbolic groupthink and fascist elements.The upside is that anyone who burns a book can easily and freely be called a Nazi regardless of whatever other positions they hold. “You burned books? Like the Nazis? So you’re a Nazi.”
What if I burn Mein Kampf?
Celebrity Tip: They also work as goalie pads.
I think octogenarian ladies with flamethrowers is pretty neat no matter what the context.
Cooler than that weird red hat contingent.
She is PLAYING DOWN the Buecherverbrennung by the Nazis during the third Reich. But it is obviously ok to play down those things since youre one the woke side. Remember how the anitvaxxers were being insulted (death threads included) for doing exactly the SAME when they compared themselves to the jews? Double standards alert. Everyone who is NOT comdemning what she is doing is showing his real fascist face.
Did you hit your head?
If he didn’t, someone should for him.
So its just insults that you can come up with. Good to know.
No no. I mean, we might disagree with you if you were coherent, but I’m just trying to figure out what you’re even trying to say in the first place.
I don´t think it is that hard to understand.
What? Speak English.
Death Thread is an awesome band name.
It should be a series, whenever they try to ban the book it gets an unburnable edition, in these times it’s like receiving an award to have a book targeted by conservatives
I mean, resisting a flamethrower is one thing, but I’m pretty sure it’s still burn if I pour hot lava on it or toss it in a volcano. Or put it in a blacksmith’s forge.
Montag’s brigade would pull out the book to haze the new recruits.
If she gets to keep the flamethrower, she’ll be safe when the Manson Family comes in the middle of the night.