Margaret Atwood at Wharton

Last night, Becky Stimson, Anne Diamond and I went to see Margaret Atwood at Wharton. She's one of my favorite authors, so I was thrilled to see her in person!

She spoke mostly about her new book, Payback - a nonfiction book about debt and credit and society. She began with the idea of doing something for another person - like holding a door open - and expecting a thank you in return. Without the "thank you," there is a feeling of an unpaid debt. She said that studies with chimps have shown that they keep track and reciprocate for doing things for each other (on a longterm basis). She then talked about other debt/credit - financial, criminal (paying one's debt to society and paying for one's crime), and a Scrooge/Dr. Faustus comparison (it is the same story, told backwards - think about it!).

During the Q&A, she answered questions about her fiction - many about Oryx and Crake, one of her post-apocalyptic novels (the other is Handmaid's Tale). One of the questions asked her about what the book says about her belief in what makes a person human. She listed: humans are social, humans create art, and humans sing (I think there was one more, but I've forgotten it!). She said that some people say that art is just a frill, but she believes that it is a necessary component of what makes us human. Without art and music, we would be less human. She said that even Neanderthals applied body paint in designs - art creation was even then part of what made them human. It made me think about quilting and why making quilts is important to me - I hadn't thought of my quilting as a necessary component of being human - a nice thought.

Some of my favorite Margaret Atwood books are Alias Grace, Robber Bride, and Cat's Eye. It has been fun seeing comments about Margaret Atwood on Facebook about her books. [For those of you who aren't on Facebook yet, please join! I'm really enjoying getting to know my relatives and friends better through Facebook - a quick and fun way to keep up with folks.]

She also talked about her 2003 Letter to America. She said that the U.S. "went through a bad patch" for awhile, but now with our election we've gotten it right. From her Canadian point of view, she said that the election overnight changed the rest of the world's opinion of the U.S. for the better.

I'm really enjoying this lecture series at Wharton and am looking forward to the next speakers. It is envigorating to sit and listen to an intelligent person expound on their ideas without interruption. Good stuff! :)