17 h. ago If holding a grudge is wrong, why does it feel so right? Just ask Margaret Atwood | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

In a culture of therapy-approved ‘forgiveness’, the author’s new memoir shows how hilarious long-delayed vengeance can be“A lot of people have died, so I can actually say these things without destroying somebody’s life. Except for the people whose lives I wish to destroy.” Thus spake Margaret Atwood in a recent interview about Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts, in a clip that has gone viral. “They deserve it,” she says, of the people she hasn’t said such nice things about. Asked if she likes holding a grudge, she replied: “I don’t have a choice. I’m a Scorpio.”Part of the clip’s appeal is Atwood’s icily sardonic delivery: you can understand why a recent review of her autobiography describes her as “a literary mafia don”, reminding those who have crossed her that she knows who they are, even if they remain unnamed, or pointing out that they may well be dead by now anyway. It reminds me a bit of the writer who once said to me: “If you wait by the bend in the river long enough, the bodi...

Politics

36 h. ago Kelly Brook's reason for 'holding grudge' against 'snobby' I'm A Celeb's Ant and Dec

Model Kelly Brook is set to enter the I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! jungle this weekend alongside plenty of other famous faces

Politics

6 d. ago Jonathan Ross reveals Celebrity Traitors stars are STILL 'holding a grudge' after BBC finale for a heartbreaking reason fans never saw on show

The chat show host, who was chosen as a Traitor by host Claudia Winkleman, took to his podcast to admit his co-stars still haven't forgiven him for being a baddie on the series.

Sport

8 d. ago Book of Lives by Margaret Atwood: Fiercely funny tales from a literary mafia don

The Canadian author gets to show her funny side — and settle scores with those who wronged her

Politics

1 week ago Book of Lives by Margaret Atwood review – the great novelist reveals her hidden side

A sharp, funny and engaging autobiography from one of the towering literary figures of our ageMargaret Atwood didn’t want to write a literary memoir. She worried it would be boring – “I wrote a book, I wrote a second book, I wrote another book ” Alcoholic excess, debauched parties and sexual transgressions would have perked things up, but she hasn’t lived that way.In the end what she has written is less a memoir than an autobiography, not a slice of life but the whole works, 85 years. Where most such backward looks are cosily triumphalist or anxiously self-justifying, hers is sharp, funny and engaging, a book you can warm to even if you’re not fully au fait (and few people are) with her astonishing output, which in the “also by” contents list here fills two pages. Continue reading...

Culture

2 w. ago Margaret Atwood opens up about heart condition and medication that turns her ‘blue’

‘My heart would stop for up to 10 seconds,’ author writes in her new memoir

Politics

2 w. ago From (finally) being given the Booker prize to the day her partner died: an exclusive extract from Margaret Atwood’s new memoir

The novelist reflects on being struck by loss in the middle of a press tour• ‘World power is shifting It is the scariest of times.’ Read an interview with Margaret AtwoodSome years ago, I was asked to make a stunt appearance on a comedy show. The host, Rick Mercer, was doing a series in which people well known for one kind of accomplishment, such as writing, astonished viewers by doing something different and entirely unrelated, such as rolling a joint.“I want you to be a hockey goalie,” Rick said. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago ‘It is the scariest of times’: Margaret Atwood on defying Trump, banned books – and her score

At 86, she’s a literary seer and saint – and queen of the Canadian resistance. So what does the writer make of our dystopian world?• ‘From (finally) being given the Booker prize to the day her partner died’: an exclusive extract from Margaret Atwood’s memoirMargaret Atwood is doing her grocery shopping in her local supermarket in Toronto, and it is taking longer than usual. This is not because The Handmaid’s Tale author turns 86 this month, but because she is checking the provenance of every item before it goes in her trolley: California satsumas out; Canada spuds in. Atwood is a passionate environmentalist, but at the moment she is more worried about boycotting anything that comes from over the border in the US than air miles. “Elbows up!” she declares, taking a furious stance in the fruit and veg aisle.Back in her kitchen she shows me a YouTube skit of Canadian prime minister Mark Carney and comedian Mike Myers in the national hockey kit to explain the significance of “E...

Politics