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Moral Disorder Audiobook
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(3.00) - 4,594 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Atwood triumphs with these dazzling, personal stories in her first collection since Wilderness Tips. In these ten interrelated stories Atwood traces the course of a life and also the lives intertwined with it, while evoking the drama and the humour that colour common experiences — the birth of a baby, divorce and remarriage, old age and death. With settings ranging from Toronto, northern Quebec, and rural Ontario, the stories begin in the present, as a couple no longer young situate themselves in a larger world no longer safe. Then the narrative goes back in time to the forties and moves chronologically forward toward the present. In “The Art of Cooking and Serving,” the twelve-year-old narrator does her best to accommodate the arrival of a baby sister. After she boldly declares her independence, we follow the narrator into young adulthood and then through a complex relationship. In “The Entities,” the story of two women haunted by the past unfolds. The magnificent last two stories reveal the heartbreaking old age of parents but circle back again to childhood, to complete the cycle. By turns funny, lyrical, incisive, tragic, earthy, shocking, and deeply personal, Moral Disorder displays Atwood’s celebrated storytelling gifts and unmistakable style to their best advantage. This is vintage Atwood, writing at the height of her powers.
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"A fascinating collection of interrelated short stories about one woman's life. In some of the stories, the woman is a central characters; in others, she plays more of a peripheral role. The result is a collection of stories not unlike what is recounted at a family reunion when people start sharing memories. The stories aren't quite in order; and it's not always obvious how the stories - or the characters - tie together until you take time to mull over them after the fact."
— Ann (5 out of 5 stars)
Moral Disorder Listener Reviews
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" I loved this book, the beautiful ability to capture childhood as we all experienced it, maybe. Close, believing your special, later going on and doing all those mundane things our parents did. I'm very glad Atwood decided to create these loosely knit biographical stories--they're so different from her other fare like Handmaid's Tale, Oryx & Crake, etc. "
— Lydia, 1/22/2014 -
" A heart-rending book of semi-autobiographical stories, many of these stories images and trials will stay with me a long time. The only story that didn't stir me completely was the very first one. "
— Andrea, 1/12/2014 -
" I don't know . . . the writing was good of course . . . but the content just didn't appeal to me. I don't think there was enough life in the stories for me. They were pleasantly unsettling at times, but maybe too dreamy for my taste. "
— Sara, 1/8/2014 -
" I didn't read this book...I listened to in on my CD player in my car as I drove to and from work, etc. I never knew it was supposed to be short stories that were interconnected. At any rate, I was fairly entertained, but I found the book lacking in tying up all the loose ends. It felt sad to me...like a life lived means not much at the end. "
— Elvira, 1/4/2014 -
" better than oryx & crake, which turned me off atwood for quite some time. "
— Stephanie, 12/31/2013 -
" I love this author but I just couldn't get into these short stories. "
— Michelle, 12/30/2013 -
" Reading stuff from Atwood, like this or 'Alias Grace', gives you a second life as a country girl. She's so good at depicting all the details of a farm house and its chores. Funnily enough, even though everything revolves around the characters, they still don't seem that relevant from the point of view of the whole: they're just pawns in a game, really. "
— Ritva, 12/30/2013 -
" I couldn't get through the first disc. It just didn't grab me but I will try something else by Atwood and see if I like it better. "
— Cecily, 12/24/2013 -
" Voice in the story is so much like a conversation between friends. Thoughts stray from one topic to another, from events to feelings. Now on to some of her novels. "
— Sylvia, 12/20/2013 -
" Nice collection of short stories of one woman from different points of view. "
— Lori, 10/23/2013 -
" I love Atwood, but this was definitely not my favorite. "
— Kimberlys, 9/15/2013 -
" not my favorite of atwood's works, but still a good read. "
— Marya, 9/15/2013 -
" Not Atwood's very best perhaps, but since Atwood is better on an off day than most writers will ever be... I guess I just like her novels better than her short stories. Semi- or perhaps quasi-autobiographical and thus very interesting stuff. "
— Ruth, 9/8/2013 -
" Some of the stories are hit or miss, but several are quite moving. I have never read Atwood, but would pick up her other books based on this one. "
— Louise, 8/18/2013 -
" I think the Tig and Nell stories could easily have been their own slight, lovely, earthy, amazing novella - but I'm not going to complain about some extra Atwood stories thrown in for good measure. "
— Kyla, 4/29/2013 -
" I didn't like this nearly as much as "the handmaid's tale" But it was well written. "
— Jesi, 11/8/2012 -
" I dislike reading short stories, but I loved this collection. I forgot how much i love and want to write like Margaret Atwood. "
— linnea, 10/15/2012 -
" It might have been me, but I just couldn't get into this one. I only finished the first half, but I will try to come back to it another time. "
— Julie, 6/12/2012 -
" Of course, this set of short stories is beautifully written and thought provoking. It is written by Margaret Atwood after all. Some of the stories, like "The Headless Horseman" and "The Other Place" are simply stunning but in truth, I prefer Atwood's long fiction. "
— April, 6/5/2012 -
" Started with a few wobbles, but once it picked up speed it all rang true. Good stuff. "
— Jesse, 1/31/2012 -
" eh... not good. not bad. reading to read. "
— Stephanie, 1/26/2012 -
" Okay. It's official. I don't like Margaret Atwood. I hear she's a bitch, anyway. "
— Taylor, 10/17/2011 -
" Proficient but forgettable Atwood. Nothing like the ambition or innovation of her prior two novels. "
— Nate, 10/15/2011 -
" 5.9 Read in bed "
— pjreads, 8/11/2011 -
" Interconnected short stories. Interesting but not as good as some of her other books. Go read Blind Assassin or the Handmaid's Tale or Oryx and Crake. "
— Kerry, 6/21/2011 -
" I like reading short stories. The weird and wonderful world of Atwood, always a good read. "
— Johanna, 5/16/2011 -
" The Handmaid's Tale is my favorite book. I have loved many of Atwood's novels, but this one is a mess. "
— Rachel, 5/4/2011 -
" A life is traced to essentially form a novel within this collection of short stories. Richly written. "
— Doris, 4/28/2011 -
" OK but soon forgotten; liked the treatment of old age and death "
— Bob, 4/14/2011 -
" Atwood is consistently intelligent, lyrical, interesting. The sweep of a woman's life from her fierce effort to knit a layette for her baby sister through the final care of her aging mother. Moving backward and forward through time. "
— Marie, 4/5/2011 -
" There was a moment, in the second story, when I didn't want to continue. But I did. And I'm glad. "
— Megan, 3/22/2011 -
" Reviews have said that this is the most autobiographical of Atwood's books. Obvuiosly it is very well written and highly compelling, it is Atwood after all. I just kind of wondered what the point was. <br/> <br/>Most of the book is about Nel's life and her life with Teig. "
— Patty, 3/17/2011 -
" Some of the stories were great and some were not. My favorite was "My Last Duchess." "
— Tori, 3/9/2011 -
" I don't usually like short stories, but all of the stories in this collection are about the same set of characters over a long span of time. "
— Hilarie, 2/27/2011 -
" I've given this book 4 stars despite the fact it won't rank as one of my favourites, just because it's written so well. Considering the slight lack of clear narrative and plot, I still engaged with the characters and enjoyed it enough to want to read to the end. "
— Maria, 2/17/2011 -
" Great stories. I always enjoy reading Margaret Atwood "
— NaomiStrange, 1/28/2011 -
" I think the Tig and Nell stories could easily have been their own slight, lovely, earthy, amazing novella - but I'm not going to complain about some extra Atwood stories thrown in for good measure. "
— Kyla, 1/21/2011
About Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood is the acclaimed author of more than fifty books of fiction, poetry, critical essays, and graphic novels. She is the recipient of dozens of awards, including joint winner of the Booker Prize in 2019, as well as the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, the Franz Kafka Prize, the PEN Center USA Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Los Angeles Times Innovator’s Award, among many others.
About Susan Denaker
Susan Denaker is an actress and Earphones Award–winning narrator. Her extensive theater credits include numerous plays in the West End of London, national tours, many English rep companies, including a season with Alan Ayckbourn’s company in Scarborough. In the US, she has appeared in Our Town and Sweet Bird of Youth at the La Jolla Playhouse and Breaking Legs at the Westport Playhouse.