I wasn’t sure how I was feeling about this book early on, and now that I’ve finished, I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it even now. There were quite a few times where I laughed out loud and just a few times where I rolled my eyes, but what struck me the most is how emotional I was by the end of the book. There is a heartbreak underlying a few of the stories towards the end that is almost palpable. I expect this short story collection to receive good reviews and I am definitely comfortable giving it a generally favorable Review myself. There are times in this collection where you see Atwood at her finest, but even Atwood pretty good is still really good. And this collection is really good.

This is an extremely varied collection of short stories in terms of subject matter, My faves were First Aid, Impatient Griselda, and Metempsychosis. Well-written and unique!

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for the advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book received for free through NetGalley

Read 70% of the way into this book but kept starting and stopping and ultimately forgot about it. Figured it was better to review as is. It was written well just not my cup of tea.

A lovely and nostalgic look at how relationships change as we age and how we change as we age and as our lives change. There are a few stories that are outside of these narratives but that still kind of challenge the way we view ourselves and our culture. Impatient griselda - where aliens are telling some abductees a story to try to keep them calm maybe? is a gem among these, as is a short science fiction exercise freeforall, in which a sexually transmitted infection has changed the landscape of the world drastically.

Tig and Nell are two characters woven throughout the book at different periods in their lives. Atwood does a skillful job at ruminating on the things we leave behind, and what they say about us. A wonderful collection that is insightful and cozy, and sometimes laugh out loud funny, and sometimes very sad.

Thanks to NetGalley for this early copy to Margaret Atwood’s short story collection.

It’s hard to review because some stories I sped through and loved while others too longer. I’ve read one story previously and enjoyed it even more the second time around. One entire section is dedicated to a couple and snippets of their journey together. That section was probably my most favorite.

The characters are very human and at some times there’s a glimpse of what we read in Handmaid’s Tale. Some are futuristic while more will bring out any number of emotions.

Overall, a good read.

As with any collection of short stories, you are sure to receive a mixed bag with some that you love, and some that fall short of the mark. What was interesting about this collection is that the first and third sections focus on a pair of characters. The second acts as an interlude, a cadre of stories both thought-provoking and humorous by turns.

The first and the third section are more meditative, and perhaps it is a way for Atwood to process her own grief at the loss of Graeme Gibson. Slowly, little moments in the life Nell and Tig had are reflected upon as Nell processes the loss of Tig. We glimpse her current life in fragments, moments in time that are snatched out and held up for our inspection in these different short stories.

Overall, I found it an interesting collection, both bittersweet and tender in their telling.

I'd like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC. In exchange, I have provided an honest review.

These are great stories by the amazing Atwood. She is, and always will be, a favorite author of mine and this book of stories is a great addition to have.

I read some authors because they know how to fabricate a complicated plot. I read other writers because they are great at character development. But Margaret Atwood falls into a third category for me: She is brilliant with language. Every word matters in this collection of short stories. These stories run the gamut of genres, including comedy, suspense, and science fiction. One of the strangest of the stories is about a woman who was (or thinks she was) a snail in her previous carnation and has now been thrust into the life of a human. It was the reverse of Kafka's "The Metamorphosis." The last tales in the collection are about Neal and Big, an elderly couple confronting their mortality. One thing is certain--aging hasn't dulled Atwood's wit.

While I prefer longer fiction, I enjoyed spending time in Atwood's world once again. Her sense of humor and sharp eye for detail are unparalleled. She's one Canada's most important authors, living or deceased.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced reader's copy in exchange for my opinions.

A collection of short stories by Margaret Atwood. I enjoyed most the stories. There were a few that I was meh about but I think that is typical in collections. A lot of the stories focused on loss and grief, I felt the stories came from a place of personal experience and Atwood was exploring her own emotions. There was an intimacy to the writing.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read and review honestly an advanced digital copy.

This was a rather unusual collection. It is bookended by short stories of a long-time married couple and stories adjacent to them, quite discursive in fact, and it took me a moment to get into. But then in the middle, there are these terrific completely random tales of fantasy and whim and science fiction and magic and sheer amusement and delight; be in a tale of a fictional interview conducted with Orwell through a medium or a story of a snail who gets reincarnated into a body of a woman. So imaginative, so clever, so funny.
The middle of the book I loved unconditionally, the rest took some getting used to, but overall, this is a fine display of an author at the top of her game contemplating the world and old age. What changes, what stays, what’s it like to love and build and share a life for a very long time. And the way one can still stay bewildered by the world at an old age, still be the proverbial babe in the woods.
An absolutely terrific collection. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

I enjoy Atwood’s writing style. I prefer her novels to her short stories but this is a nice collection, thanks for the advanced copy,

Margaret Atwood never misses. I always enjoy her short stories. While I'm only in my late 20s, reading about the journey of aging as a woman was insightful.

This is a very solid collection of short stories by Margaret Atwood. Dark humor, aging, family dynamics. Would definitely recommend this collection! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

I was thrilled to be able to read this latest collection of short stories by the impeccably talented Margaret Atwood. As my own mother and mother-in-law are aging and I am starting to feel seen less and less, the biggest complaint I hear from them is that women, as we get older, become invisible. In the publishing industry, aging, post-menopausal women are certainly an ignored character demographic - mirroring that reality that so many experience. Atwood, however, gives powerful, thought provoking voices to these ignored women. Covering everything from long term loves, motherhood, friendship, and the eventual loss of those things, Old Babes in the Wood is a journey through womanhood.

Extremely well written and highly recommended for fans of Atwood’s short stories and those who seek out out voices that are frequently ignored or left out.

Huge thank you to NetGalley, Doubleday, and Margaret Atwood for an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a wonderful collection of stories from Atwood - just be aware that some of these have been published elsewhere so all them might not be new for readers who pick up lots of her works. My favorite was probably "My Evil Mother" but the ongoing series of vignettes with Tig and Nell were soothing as well.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an ARC through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Margaret Atwood is a legend for a reason. Even in these small snippets - novellas, really - her extraordinary writing shines through. I found myself highlighting passages to return to as "instructional references" for my own writing projects. Richly-drawn characters and a plot that moves swiftly but leaves you guessing - it's a beautiful read.

Atwood’s new set of short stories is formatted with a core of somewhat fantastical pieces sandwiched by 2 larger sections in which a woman recalls her long life with her husband and how she copes with his death. I still am not sure why she uses this format and deliberately breaks up Tig and Nell’s tale. The stories in the middle section were very different, showcase Atwood’s genius at looking at the subject matter with fresh, creative eyes, and, frankly, were more to my taste.

“The Impatient Griselda,” for example, reimagines the old folk tale by having it told by an alien being trying to entertain a group of people who are quarantined by a pandemic. In “death by clamshell,” Hypatia of Alexandria tells the story of her death to all of the scholars over the years who wondered what really happened to her (spoiler alert, it’s not pretty, but since Hypatia is dead she doesn’t see what all the fuss is about). My favorite story has Atwood herself interviewing a very condescending George Orwell via a medium. “The dead interview” is the most overtly personal of these stories, but Atwood can be found throughout- whether it be a sly reference to her current celebrity or the pain of getting used to the absence of a life partner. That in itself makes this collection worth reading.

Thanks to Doubleday and NetGalley for the ARC which I received in exchange for my honest review.

Unlike many, I'm not a huge Atwood fan. but I like short stories so I gave this a go. It's pretty good overall, not great. Atwood obviously has talent, so maybe it's me. There's a nice variety and I liked some of the stories.

Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!

I quickly scooped this up because it was Atwood, not realizing it was short stories, which I am not typically a fan of. It took me a while to get through and seemed a bit like a chore at times. But when I went back to choose which stories I enjoyed the most, I realized there were actually quite a few. My favorites (in no particular order) were: Death by Clamshell, Widows, My Evil Mother, Bad Teeth and Metempsychosis.

If you like short stories and you are a fan of Atwood's other work, you will enjoy this.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Loneliness, loss, and a sense of incredulity and amazement: that’s what getting old really feels like. For those who are far from those aging milestones, Margaret Atwood’s latest short story collection may seem almost like an anthropological study. But for those of us who are rapidly reaching (or have already reached) our Medicare years, these stories ring with a poignant and authentic truth.

Margaret Atwood is 83. Her husband and life partner, the writer Graeme Gibson, died a few years back. Ms. Atwood believes she was descended from a woman lynched for supposedly being a witch. It’s important to keep all this in mind while delving into these stories, which, at their heart, are at least a little bit autobiographical.

About half the stories revolve around an aging married couple named Nell and Tig. Particularly worthy for me is the one entitled Widows, where Ms. Atwood writes that, “Time has ceased to be linear, with life events and memories in a chronological row like beads on a string. It’s the strangest feeling or experience, or rearrangement. I’m not sure I can explain it to you.” Some of the Nell and Tig stories lose their emotional attachment through the details of everyday life; others shine.

Others that are sandwiched in provide a bit of comic relief mixed with irony and headshaking. Chief among these is Airborne, where professional women gather together to work on creating a panel. During their time together, they reminisce about the devolvement of language, joke about passwords and political correctness and feminism, and ruefully consider the changes that have taken place. Another good one is Metempsychosis, about a snail who is reincarnated within the body of a female bank teller. The Dead Interview, a dialogue between Ms. Atwood and George Orwell (one of her influences), is illuminating and well-crafted.

Although this is not the strongest of Margaret Atwood’s short story collections, it is perhaps her most personal, and as such, a must-read. I am grateful to Doubleday and NetGalley for enabling me to be an early reader in exchange for an honest review.