SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Author Margaret Atwood attempts to light a flame-resistant copy of her book The Handmaid's Tale in a video released on May 24, 2022. (Image: screenshot/Penguin Random House)
Atwood Releases Fire-Proof Copy of 'Handmaid's Tale' to Combat GOP Book-Banning
"To see her classic novel about the dangers of oppression reborn in this innovative, unburnable edition is a timely reminder of what's at stake in the battle against censorship."
May 24, 2022
Proceeds from an auction of an unusual edition of Margaret Atwood's classic dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale will go to the free expression advocacy group PEN America, as the group stands up to right-wing attempts to ban books in the United States.
The single copy of the novel is made entirely of flame-resistant material, as evidenced in a video released Monday in which Atwood herself attempts to light the book on fire.
Atwood and the publishing company Penguin Random House announced Monday that the book will be auctioned off at Sotheby's New York, both to help PEN America fight censorship and as a challenge to enacted and attempted book bans.
"To see her classic novel about the dangers of oppression reborn in this innovative, unburnable edition is a timely reminder of what's at stake in the battle against censorship," Markus Dohle, CEO of Penguin Random House, told the Associated Press Tuesday.
The publisher worked with Atwood, PEN America, the Toronto-based creative agency Rethink, and a bookbinding studio called the Gas Company to create the book.
The flame-proof copy is made of thin sheets of Cinefoil, an aluminum product, and was sewn together using nickel copper wire.
The creation of the book comes as attempts to ban books by lawmakers and school districts have surged to their highest level since the American Library Association began recording such censorship two decades ago.
The group reported 729 challenges to materials in schools and libraries. Last week, more than 1,000 children's book authors and artists signed a letter condemning "the efforts by organized groups to purge books from our nation's schools."
The Handmaid's Tale was banned in schools in Texas and Kansas last year.
According to PEN America, as Republicans center their 2022 electoral campaigns largely on protesting the teaching of the United States' long history of racial injustice and discussions of gender identity in public schools, GOP lawmakers in 42 states have proposed nearly 200 pieces of legislation seeking to limit school discussions of such topics.
The unburnable copy of The Handmaid's Tale is "an unforgettable visual metaphor" for the current political climate in the U.S., Atwood told the AP.
On January 20th, it begins...
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. Our Year-End campaign is our most important fundraiser of the year. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Proceeds from an auction of an unusual edition of Margaret Atwood's classic dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale will go to the free expression advocacy group PEN America, as the group stands up to right-wing attempts to ban books in the United States.
The single copy of the novel is made entirely of flame-resistant material, as evidenced in a video released Monday in which Atwood herself attempts to light the book on fire.
Atwood and the publishing company Penguin Random House announced Monday that the book will be auctioned off at Sotheby's New York, both to help PEN America fight censorship and as a challenge to enacted and attempted book bans.
"To see her classic novel about the dangers of oppression reborn in this innovative, unburnable edition is a timely reminder of what's at stake in the battle against censorship," Markus Dohle, CEO of Penguin Random House, told the Associated Press Tuesday.
The publisher worked with Atwood, PEN America, the Toronto-based creative agency Rethink, and a bookbinding studio called the Gas Company to create the book.
The flame-proof copy is made of thin sheets of Cinefoil, an aluminum product, and was sewn together using nickel copper wire.
The creation of the book comes as attempts to ban books by lawmakers and school districts have surged to their highest level since the American Library Association began recording such censorship two decades ago.
The group reported 729 challenges to materials in schools and libraries. Last week, more than 1,000 children's book authors and artists signed a letter condemning "the efforts by organized groups to purge books from our nation's schools."
The Handmaid's Tale was banned in schools in Texas and Kansas last year.
According to PEN America, as Republicans center their 2022 electoral campaigns largely on protesting the teaching of the United States' long history of racial injustice and discussions of gender identity in public schools, GOP lawmakers in 42 states have proposed nearly 200 pieces of legislation seeking to limit school discussions of such topics.
The unburnable copy of The Handmaid's Tale is "an unforgettable visual metaphor" for the current political climate in the U.S., Atwood told the AP.
From Your Site Articles
Proceeds from an auction of an unusual edition of Margaret Atwood's classic dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale will go to the free expression advocacy group PEN America, as the group stands up to right-wing attempts to ban books in the United States.
The single copy of the novel is made entirely of flame-resistant material, as evidenced in a video released Monday in which Atwood herself attempts to light the book on fire.
Atwood and the publishing company Penguin Random House announced Monday that the book will be auctioned off at Sotheby's New York, both to help PEN America fight censorship and as a challenge to enacted and attempted book bans.
"To see her classic novel about the dangers of oppression reborn in this innovative, unburnable edition is a timely reminder of what's at stake in the battle against censorship," Markus Dohle, CEO of Penguin Random House, told the Associated Press Tuesday.
The publisher worked with Atwood, PEN America, the Toronto-based creative agency Rethink, and a bookbinding studio called the Gas Company to create the book.
The flame-proof copy is made of thin sheets of Cinefoil, an aluminum product, and was sewn together using nickel copper wire.
The creation of the book comes as attempts to ban books by lawmakers and school districts have surged to their highest level since the American Library Association began recording such censorship two decades ago.
The group reported 729 challenges to materials in schools and libraries. Last week, more than 1,000 children's book authors and artists signed a letter condemning "the efforts by organized groups to purge books from our nation's schools."
The Handmaid's Tale was banned in schools in Texas and Kansas last year.
According to PEN America, as Republicans center their 2022 electoral campaigns largely on protesting the teaching of the United States' long history of racial injustice and discussions of gender identity in public schools, GOP lawmakers in 42 states have proposed nearly 200 pieces of legislation seeking to limit school discussions of such topics.
The unburnable copy of The Handmaid's Tale is "an unforgettable visual metaphor" for the current political climate in the U.S., Atwood told the AP.
From Your Site Articles
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.