This is a fascinating book for a number of reasons:

1. Atwood is a gifted fiction writer and poet who brings her writing skill to bear on this non-fiction topic.
2. The topic itself is quite apropos in our current economic climate.
3. Atwood’s knowledge of literature provides the her with scads of illustrative material to draw from.
4. Atwood manages to make such a serious topic entertaining, readable, and thought-provoking.

This is not a self-help book on personal finance. It’s an exploration of the role that debt has played in our society throughout history. While the whole book is interesting, the ending is chilling. Using the Scrooge narrative as a framework, the author of Oryx and Crake revisits her apocalyptic vision when considering the debt we owe to our environment.

Atwood, Margaret. Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth. Anansi Press, 2008. CBC Massey Lectures.