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Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth (CBC Massey Lectures)
by Atwood, Margaret
- Used
- as new
- Paperback
- Signed
- Condition
- As New
- ISBN 10
- 0887848109
- ISBN 13
- 9780887848100
- Seller
-
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Toronto, ON: House of Anansi Pr Ltd, 2008. Paperback. As New. SIGNED BY MARGARET ATWOOD on title page; As New; Payback is not a book about practical debt management of high finance, although it does touch upon these subjects. Rather, it is an investigation into the idea of debt as an ancient and central motif in religion, literature, and the structure of human societies. By investigating how debt has informed our thinking from pre-literate times to the present day, Atwood shows that the idea of what we owe one another - in other words, "debt" - is built into the human imagination and is one of its most dynamic metaphors.
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. 215-219) and index.
Reviews
On Apr 23 2014, a reader said:
Precision and zest are two pretty good defining terms for any writing Margaret Atwood lays her hand to. And irony, and intelligence: those virtues, as Hitchens remarks, we are so much warned against. Irony layers her language: one of her poem collections is called YOU ARE HAPPY; one of her most moving poems is called “Last Day”. The quick vitality, her points that form themselves a shade faster than we expect, her boomerang use of current phrases—all these give Atwood’s artistry a contrarian side. In PAYBACK: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth (Anansi, 2008), the topic leaps off the ledger page and Atwood demonstrates its fiscal, emotional, sacrificial and literary facets as one of the conditions of our lives, as our great imaginary construct and as a recurring topic of our imaginative writing. It’s an ideal subject for Atwood to raise her eyebrow over, and in two hundred rapid pages we get Euripides, Eric Berne, Madame Defarge, Solon, the daughter of Jephthah, gelada monkeys, the Bedoneby sisters, Shylock (of course), Faustus (of course) and Scrooge (Original, Lite and Nouveau)—and an exceedingly interesting bibliography of current ecology websites. How much more shadowy can you get, Atwood has her reader ask, four chapters in: “Quite a lot more, because it’s shadowiest just before it gets even shadowier. But never mind, I’m saving the hopeful stuff for the end of the book. Just like Pandora.” Atwood as contrarian? In the fifth and final chapter: “I’ll try to make this as painless as possible. No, on second thought, I won’t do that: because if it were painless, it wouldn’t be about payback, would it?” Brava.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Werdz Quality Used Books (CA)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 006409
- Title
- Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth (CBC Massey Lectures)
- Author
- Atwood, Margaret
- Format/Binding
- Paperback
- Book Condition
- New As New
- Quantity Available
- 1
- ISBN 10
- 0887848109
- ISBN 13
- 9780887848100
- Publisher
- House of Anansi Pr Ltd
- Place of Publication
- Toronto, ON
- Date Published
- 2008
- Pages
- 230
- Keywords
- IDEAS DEBT SOCIAL ASPECTS LITERATURE CONCEPT OF OWING TO ANOTHER DEBT MANAGEMENT RELIGION ECONOMICS SIGNED COLLECTIBLE
Terms of Sale
Werdz Quality Used Books
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Werdz Quality Used Books
Biblio member since 2021
Winnipeg, Manitoba
About Werdz Quality Used Books
All prices are in Canadian dollars. Payment can be by credit card through Biblio. Other options include money orders or personal checks in U.S. or Canadian funds only. Books will be held for 2 weeks pending receipt of payment. We use Brodart dust jacket protectors for books$19.50 and over.We pack well and ship promptly. PLEASE include your email address and phone number in all correspondence. Cheques can be made out to Werdz Quality Used Books, 337 Maplewood Ave., Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3L 1A8, Canada. If you are dissatisfied with the purchase for any reason, return your purchase within 14 days of receipt for a full refund of the purchase price. Please include the packing slip and indicate the reason for your return. Sorry, we do not refund the cost shipping.
Glossary
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- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...