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Literary Criticism Canadian

Margaret Atwood and the Labour of Literary Celebrity

by (author) Lorraine York

Publisher
University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division
Initial publish date
Jun 2013
Category
Canadian, Women Authors, Books & Reading
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781442614239
    Publish Date
    May 2013
    List Price
    $40.95
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781442646131
    Publish Date
    Jun 2013
    List Price
    $74.00
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442664944
    Publish Date
    May 2013
    List Price
    $33.95

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Out of print

This edition is not currently available in bookstores. Check your local library or search for used copies at Abebooks.

Description

For every famous author there is a score of individuals working behind the scenes to promote and maintain her celebrity status. This timely and thoughtful book considers the particular case of internationally renowned writer Margaret Atwood and the active agents working in concert with her, including her assistants and office staff, her publicists, her literary agents, and her editors. Lorraine York explores the ways in which the careers of famous writers are managed and maintained and the extent to which literary celebrity creates a constant tension in these writers’ lives between the need of solitude for creative purposes and the give-and-take of the business of being a writer of significant public stature.

Making extensive use of unpublished material in the Margaret Atwood Papers at the University of Toronto, York demonstrates the extent to which celebrity writers must embrace and protect themselves from the demands of the literary world, including by participating in – or even inventing – new forms of technology that facilitate communication from a slight remove. This informative study calls overdue attention to the ways in which literary celebrity is the result not only of a writer’s creativity and hard work, but also of an ongoing collaborative effort among professionals to help maintain the writer’s place in the public eye.

About the author

Lorraine York is Senator William McMaster Chair in Canadian Literature and Culture in the Department of English and Cultural Studies at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Her most recent books are Margaret Atwood and the Labour of Literary Celebrity (2013) and Literary Celebrity in Canada (2007). She is currently at work on a project on reluctant celebrity.

Lorraine York's profile page

Editorial Reviews

‘This is a fascinating, well researched examination of Atwood’s public literary career… This book provides an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look at Atwood’s career…. Highly recommended.’

Choice Magazine; vol 51:05:14

‘York’s desire to expose and explore the underside of fame is commendable (and in literary context, novel).’

TLS, March 7, 2014