Libraries Report Staggering Waitlists for ‘The Handmaid’s Tale … – Signature Reads

In libraries across America, readers are clamoring for a copy of Margaret Atwoods dystopian classic, presumably to stay ahead of the new Hulu series that debuts April 27. In New York City alone, more than 500 people are patiently waiting their turn, and libraries in Houston, San Francisco, Chicago, and other major cities are likewise reporting a queuethat could end up being hundreds deep. While the NYPL declines to speculate on the impetus thatsdriving people to reserve the book in such great numbers, HuffPo feels comfortable ascribing it to the current political climate, which even the most zen among us might describe as dire.

Meanwhile The New Yorker takes even more careful aim, sketching a profile of Atwood as a Prophet of Dystopia. Amid the expected reel of career highlights and more recent revelations from the bestselling author on the subject of American politics (If the election of Donald Trump were fiction, Atwood maintains, it would be too implausible to satisfy readers), this profile contains a lovely anecdote about Atwoods penchant for palmistry. Can you imagine letting someone this keenly observant anywhere near your lifeline and are you strong enough to handle hearing whatever she sees there?

Stephen King has pissed off the clowns, and he knows it. The author acknowledged in a tweet this week that good clowns everywhere are likely to be fuming about the resurgence of anti-clown sentiment thats sure to come along with the new adaptation of It. King tried to excuse the effects of his masterpiece on societysmost maligned class ofentertainers:Sorry, most are great, he wrote, BUT kids have always been scared of clowns. Dont kill the messengers for the message. That may sound like hes nervous about retaliation, but really its a sort of ethical test for all clownfolk what good clown would ever think of doing him harm?

Its Ayn Rands world; were all just stuck living in it. Read along as The Guardian explores the objectivist authors clout in twenty-first-century power games, from the White House(President Trump claims to love The Fountainhead, despite the persistence of urban legends claiming he cant read) to Silicon Valley, where Randians run rampant. When the CEO of Uber, Travis Kalanick, had to choose an avatar for his Twitter account in 2015, he opted for the cover of The Fountainhead, their article claims. Peter Thiel, Facebooks first major investor and a rare example of a man who straddles both Silicon Valley and Trumpworld, isa Randian. Meanwhile, Steve Jobs issaid by his Apple co-founder, Steve Wozniak, to have regarded Atlas Shrugged as one of his guides in life.' If you want to understand ourtimes, just pay Ayn a visit at your local library it will give you something to freak out over until The Handmaids Tale is back in circulation.

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Libraries Report Staggering Waitlists for 'The Handmaid's Tale ... - Signature Reads