The six “mini-stories” in this short meta-fictional narrative from Margaret Atwood satirize a common element of the story form. In the process, they touch on a myriad of themes including marriage and romance, family life, self-gratification, desperation, suicide, murder, virtue and compassion. The message seems to be that the ultimate denouement of a story matters little; the key is in its exposition and “How and Why” of events in between. The story also provides a lesson in life: What people will remember most about us after our book is closed is the how and why of the way we lived.
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