Month: February 2018

Nota Bene: Margaret Atwood isn’t Getting Rich from ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ Series

On By chrisbarsantiIn Books, TelevisionLeave a comment

So even though Hulu is going into its second season of their adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale, don’t assume that means piles of cash for Margaret Atwood.

In an essay about women, money, and power—and how rarely all three are allowed to align—Atwood points out that the hit series isn’t sending much money her way:

The Handmaid’s Tale television series was not my deal. I sold the rights to MGM in 1990 to make a movie – so when the TV rights were sold to Hulu, the money went to MGM. We did not have a negotiating position. I did get brought on as an executive consultant, but that wasn’t a lot of money. People think it’s been all Hollywood glamour since the TV show happened, but that’s not happening to me. But book sales have been brisk, so there’s that.

(h/t: Bookforum)

Writer’s Desk: Lie Truthfully

On By chrisbarsantiIn Books, WritingLeave a comment

If writing isn’t truthful, readers can tell. That doesn’t mean it’s all pulled from real life. Writing is also about creating new realities. You have to make things up sometimes to get at the truth. It’s a contradiction that non-writers can have a hard time wrapping their heads around.

Here’s what Jamie Quatro told The Paris Review:

Fiction begins with small, lower-case truths, then translates them into a larger lie that ultimately reveals the largest truths. “None of it happened and all of it’s true,” said Ann Patchett’s mother.

And remember what Tim O’Brien wrote in “How to Tell a True War Story“:

Absolute occurrence is irrelevant. A thing may happen and be a total lie; another thing may not happen and be truer than the truth.