Wilderness Tips (book)
Encyclopedia
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
by Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood
Margaret Eleanor Atwood, is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most-honoured authors of fiction in recent history; she is a winner of the Arthur C...
, published in 1991 by McClelland and Stewart
McClelland and Stewart
McClelland & Stewart Limited is a Canadian publishing company. It is partially owned by Random House of Canada, now a subsidiary of Bertelsmann....
. It was a finalist for the Governor General’s Award. Certain of the stories were previously published in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, Saturday Night
Saturday Night (magazine)
Saturday Night was a Canadian general interest magazine. It was founded in Toronto, Ontario in 1887.The publication was first established as a weekly broadsheet newspaper about public affairs and the arts, which was later expanded into a general interest magazine. The editor, Edmund E. Sheppard,...
, Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
, Harper's and Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
. (ISBN 0-7710-0819-8).
Several of the stories are fictionalized portrayals of Atwood's contemporaries in Canadian literature. The mysterious poet Selena in "Isis in Darkness" is based on Gwendolyn MacEwen
Gwendolyn MacEwen
Gwendolyn Margaret MacEwen was a Canadian poet and novelist. A "sophisticated, wide-ranging and thoughtful writer," she published more than 20 books in her brief life. "A sense of magic and mystery from her own interests in the Gnostics, Ancient Egypt and magic itself, and from her wonderment at...
, and the journalist Marcia in "Hack Wednesday" is based on June Callwood
June Callwood
June Rose Callwood, was a Canadian journalist, author and social activist. She was born in Chatham, Ontario and grew up in nearby Belle River.-Early life and career:...
. One story, "Uncles", prompted a feud between Atwood and Robert Fulford, who claimed to have been the model for the character Percy Marrow.
Contents
- "True Trash"
- "Hairball"
- "Isis in Darkness"
- "The Bog Man"
- "Death by Landscape"
- "Uncles"
- "The Age of Lead"
- "Weight"
- "Wilderness Tips"
- "Hack Wednesday"