Written in 1979, this Atwood novel is dated in that its characters and their liaisons are no longer as shocking in their offhandedness as they were in the 1970s. Nor are they the most engaging set of "swingers" to be portrayed in fiction. So no matter how fabulously Lorelei King reads, this Atwood may catch you nodding off at the wheel. The saving grace is quirky Leslie, who is far more interested in the dinosaurs she studies than the men she sleeps with. If you didn't read this novel twenty years ago, here's a nicely interpreted version to catch you up. B.H.B. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine--
Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
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“One of the most important writers in English today.”
–Germaine Greer
“Margaret Atwood has the knack of getting right inside the souls of her characters and creating people who are literally unforgettable.”
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Toronto Sun
“She writes with savage humour. Sentences are spare, kept under enormous compression, like a bent bow.”
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Esquire
“Margaret Atwood is a deeply serious writer who is also wildly funny.”
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Chatelaine
“Moving flawlessly from wit to pathos and back, Atwood constructs a superb living exhibit in which the artifacts are unique.…There is ample treasure in this novel.”
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Chicago Tribune“Margaret Atwood takes risks and wins.”
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Time
“A fine, self-deprecating sense of humour and polished style.”
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Maclean’s
“Powerful introspection, satiric insight.”
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Los Angeles Herald Examiner
“Excellent…Atwood at her best.”
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Atlantic Monthly “Beautifully written and constructed.…A rich and elegant achievement.”
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The Listener (U.K.)
“Atwood is a wordchild with the gift of tongues, puns, echoes, and symbols.…”
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The Times (U.K.)
“Witty, lightfooted, realistic yet with shooting insights into the nature of personality and love.”
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Financial Times (U.K.)
“Crisp, carefully ironic, contemporary.…Emotionally powerful, intelligent and very adult.”
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Ms.
“
Life Before Man – tender, funny, absorbing, idiosyncratic, truthful, heartening – is a liberating novel.”
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Literary Review (U.K.)
