In Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth, literary legend Margaret Atwood delivers a surprising look at the topic of debt - a timely subject ...
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Dec 03, 2008
coreyc
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Margaret Atwood is one of those authors I vaguely respect and follow. I’ve read one or two of her novels, and hear lovely things about her, so she’s categorized in my head as a smart, interesting lady. Thus, when I saw her newest book, Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth while on lunch break from jury selection, I picked it up. She’s a writer and a feminist, I thought; surely her literary approach to the credit crisis can help me make sense of it and expand my ways of thinking about it.
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Aug 10, 2011
"Debt as Plot" was the most useful chapter for me.
The book is also my first reading of Margaret Atwood, fiction or non-fiction. I believe she succeeded in digging for the instauration stories, the venal and the redeeming, while telling its story for our ears. Somehow it invites re-reading familiar stories through the prism of debt; as well it points to the creation of stories that will balance the recent preponderance of debt in all its forms with some paying up or paying back.
I would More...
The book is also my first reading of Margaret Atwood, fiction or non-fiction. I believe she succeeded in digging for the instauration stories, the venal and the redeeming, while telling its story for our ears. Somehow it invites re-reading familiar stories through the prism of debt; as well it points to the creation of stories that will balance the recent preponderance of debt in all its forms with some paying up or paying back.
I would More...
Feb 17, 2009
Agreenhouse
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As President Obama signs the 800 billion dollar stimulus package today, and our national debt balloons to a 53-year high of 10 trillion dollars, lots of us have debt on our minds. Most of us are simply focusing on how to pay our credit card bills, but Margaret Atwood takes on debt from evolutionary, spiritual, and literary standpoints.
She starts the book by explaining how reciprocity is the underlying structure of most human and primate relations. We are willing to give and share, More...
She starts the book by explaining how reciprocity is the underlying structure of most human and primate relations. We are willing to give and share, More...
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Jan 29, 2009
Barbara
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This book is titled "Payback and the Shadow Side of Wealth." It does deal with financial debt, but also the larger concept of dept, balance, and fairness. Margaret Atwood is enjoyable smart and witty. I enjoyed this book! There were many memorable quotes. A put a couple of my favorites (so I can find them later)
"The trickle-down theory of economics has it that it's good for rich people to get even richer because some of their wealth will trickle own, through their More...
"The trickle-down theory of economics has it that it's good for rich people to get even richer because some of their wealth will trickle own, through their More...
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Sep 05, 2010
Thurston
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I enjoyed this book at the outset, it felt like a chance to listen in on an author wool-gathering facts for spinning fiction. And the idea of debts/trespasses caught my post-Cathoholic ear, apparently as it did an ear at the Economist, since I saw Atwoord's comments referenced there.
It seems like debt used to be a more isolated misfortune, as opposed to a mandated one. And step aside mortgages, here come school loans! That's what drew me to the book (and Atwood's prose prowess), as More...
It seems like debt used to be a more isolated misfortune, as opposed to a mandated one. And step aside mortgages, here come school loans! That's what drew me to the book (and Atwood's prose prowess), as More...
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Jul 27, 2010
Susan
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Margaret Atwood's Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth arrived at the end of 2008--an opportune time, when families were watching jobs and mortgages implode, corporations and communities running out of credit, and the global economic system undergoing a meltdown, all because of debt. It was, truly, payback time.
And even though the Credit Crash of 2008 is history, its effects linger on--and for some people, have become magnified. Readers will have that ongoing More...
May 25, 2010
Juliet
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This is a brilliant book from Margaret Atwood (who is my favourite poet, despite her being better known as a novelist). This book however is neither poetry nor fiction but a considered, thought provoking and enlightening look at debt. It looks at the idea of debt and how it has informed politics, the justice system and literature through history. Atwood looks at word origins and the origins of debt awareness, showing that other primates are aware of debt. She also looks at how potent a theme deb
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Feb 15, 2010
Nicole
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I picked this up, despite disliking many of Atwood's works in the past, because I've enjoyed Massey lectures before. I was pleasantly surprised. I liked how (given the current profusion of books about finances) she considered debt historically and not only in financial terms, her references were widely varied and the less well-known ones were sufficiently explained that I didn't get lost even when I hadn't read them, and the connections she drew between various parts of history and literature we
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Jun 19, 2009
EXCELLENT. Margaret Atwood trained as an anthropologist (I think) and her education comes through in this short and very readable treatise of sorts. I noticed my copy was due back in the library in two days, and I only wish I'd had more time to digest it. She divides her book into 5 chapters: Ancient Balances (the Egyptians, the Greeks and Romans, on debt); Debt and Sin (debt and its religious force and significance - did you know that debt and sin are the same word in Aramaic?); Debt as Plot
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Apr 08, 2009
Stephen
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This book could hardly be more timely nor from the hand of a better writer. No, this is not fiction, at least not for the most part, but a study of debt. Margaret Atwood begins her book by considering the idea of fairness, upon which so much loaning and paying back are based. She then considers the connection between debt and sin, pointing out, among other things the variance in the Lord's Prayer between "forgive us our debts" and "forgive us our trespasses." Atwood goes
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Oct 25, 2010
Brittany
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How I Came To Read This Book: About a year ago I won a prize pack of books that dealt with social issues, including this one.
The Plot: This five-part series has been transcribed into print, and basically covers the abstract concept of debt through the eyes of one of Canada's greatest literary talents. It's not meant to be a straight up business book, political analysis, or historical tome - yet it's all of those things and more. The five sections cover debt and our sense of fairness More...
The Plot: This five-part series has been transcribed into print, and basically covers the abstract concept of debt through the eyes of one of Canada's greatest literary talents. It's not meant to be a straight up business book, political analysis, or historical tome - yet it's all of those things and more. The five sections cover debt and our sense of fairness More...
Sep 24, 2011
ann
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This book is a brief panorama on the psychology of debt...from national debt to religious notions of debt and martyrdom. The book is from a lecture series so it doesn't read as easily as a standard non fiction book. There are a lot of dead end digressions....and I think Atwood's indulgences in feminism and personal history are distracting.
But, I still think the book was very thought-provoking and timely given the economic issues. I do wish she had discussed our evolutionary histo More...
But, I still think the book was very thought-provoking and timely given the economic issues. I do wish she had discussed our evolutionary histo More...
Dec 13, 2010
Meghan
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This book would have easily gotten a 4 star rating from me if she had just left the last chapter out.
In Atwood's own words, "Payback is not about debt management, or sleep debt, or the national debt, or about managing your monthly budget, or about how debt is actually a good thing because you can borrow money and then make it grow, or about shopaholics and how to figure out that you are one: bookstores and the Internet abound in such materials."
So what is Paybac More...
In Atwood's own words, "Payback is not about debt management, or sleep debt, or the national debt, or about managing your monthly budget, or about how debt is actually a good thing because you can borrow money and then make it grow, or about shopaholics and how to figure out that you are one: bookstores and the Internet abound in such materials."
So what is Paybac More...
Oct 06, 2010
Nancy
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I listened to the audiobook version of this while enroute to the cottage. Margaret's rendering of this 2008 Massey Lecture series is interesting and enlightening. She draws on literary and historical antecedents to develop her theories of debt and its impact on us and our culture. She chose the topic as it was something she knew nothing about and her timing was amazing -- Just before the Big Meltdown which has reverberated worldwide ever since. Her use of words and language had me enthrall
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Sep 17, 2009
Ashley
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Sassy & highly informative. One of the funnest (/most disturbing) fun facts within: SIN EATERS, near-desperate villagers in olden times paid to "eat" the sin of those who died without the chance for repentance. Bread and wine were handed over the fresh grave, and the sin eater would take on the departed's "debts" of sins. But if they later died without making peace with God, they'd have double the sin-load, and then have to pay up ... to THE DEVIL!!!!
Oh, and the More...
Oh, and the More...
Jun 30, 2009
Vonetta
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As a studier of behavioral finance and struggler with debt, I'd wanted to read this book as soon as it came out. I met Margaret Atwood once. She's got one of those voices that sticks with you forever once you've heard it one time. So hearing it in her voice, in her style that is just so... her, made it a great book. I loved how she looked at debt outside of the context of money, but in terms of religion and other societal/behavioral factors. The only thing that ruined it all for me was the liber
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Nov 13, 2011
Sonja
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David Graeber writes in The First 5,000 Years that "the supposedly virtuous act of giving is often instead an act meant to create an obligation, an act whereby the giver measures himself against the receiver and requires a repayment, even if that repayment is gratitude:
'[Here] are the words of an actual hunter-gatherer - an Inuit from Greenland made famous in the Danish writer Peter Freuchen's Book of the Eskimo. Freuchen tells how one day, after coming home hungry from an unsucc More...
'[Here] are the words of an actual hunter-gatherer - an Inuit from Greenland made famous in the Danish writer Peter Freuchen's Book of the Eskimo. Freuchen tells how one day, after coming home hungry from an unsucc More...
Nov 10, 2009
Carol
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Margaret Atwood is a wonderful writer although I'm not so keen on her futeristic books which I find rather depressing. Payback is not fiction but her analysis of the economy of our times subtitled Debt and the Shadow side of Wealth. She does an outline of the history of debt - she is wonderfully well read and pulls in illustrations from all sorts of history and literary sources. However the real pleasure is the slightly humorous, tongue in cheek way she writes which is simultaneously entertainin
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Mar 20, 2009
Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth - Margaret Atwood
As you probably know i am an Atwood FANATIC. This was a fun read, for me, perhaps not for you. Finding her extended discussion of the somewhat obscure and favorite book of mine Precious Bane by Mary Webb was a real pleasure. No surprise that i often find her favourite books mine too -- <>Doctor Glas</b> is another example, thought this book is not mentioned here. She also discusses many other books here too, li More...
As you probably know i am an Atwood FANATIC. This was a fun read, for me, perhaps not for you. Finding her extended discussion of the somewhat obscure and favorite book of mine Precious Bane by Mary Webb was a real pleasure. No surprise that i often find her favourite books mine too -- <>Doctor Glas</b> is another example, thought this book is not mentioned here. She also discusses many other books here too, li More...
Mar 04, 2009
Terry
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Debt is an examination of debt as a human construction. Margaret Atwood examine the idea of debt, not just relating to monetary values but other social values such as belief and our environment. She discuss the history of debt and hoe various civilization viewed the concept. I found the book to provide an interesting view on our society and how we think. Money is only a small part of debt. It affects how we view death, good and evil, and how we interact with one another. I found the book t
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Mar 27, 2009
Marty
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I liked this very much. I detest being in financial debt, even "responsible" debt like a mortgage. I also do not like being in psychological debt - when someone does me a favor, I rush to repay it. This was an interesting look at how debt has functioned in society throughout time.
It also has a powerful environmental message. I have decided I need to start composting.
This is a slim book, and I thought it would be a fast, easy read. It is not. There is a l More...
It also has a powerful environmental message. I have decided I need to start composting.
This is a slim book, and I thought it would be a fast, easy read. It is not. There is a l More...
Jul 27, 2011
Marc
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This book is not at all what I expected it to be!
I thought it would look at the current world financial crisis, or perhaps the issue of government debts and international loan sharks. It turned out to be a philosophical exploration of the idea of debt - its history in literature and religion, and its parallels to the environmental issue of living beyond our means, and inevitable payback that will result.
I must admit that I had to force myself through the first chapter/lecture of this book, sinc More...
I thought it would look at the current world financial crisis, or perhaps the issue of government debts and international loan sharks. It turned out to be a philosophical exploration of the idea of debt - its history in literature and religion, and its parallels to the environmental issue of living beyond our means, and inevitable payback that will result.
I must admit that I had to force myself through the first chapter/lecture of this book, sinc More...
Jun 12, 2009
Maggie
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If you like Atwood, you probably will like this rambly venture into the world of mythology, anthropology, and Victorian literature. Atwood's language, as usual, is careful and hypnotic - she tells a good story. But her arguments are so rooted in an internal sense of pattern recognition that it's sometimes hard to either follow her or believe her century and discipline spanning connections. While I an somehow instinctively drawn to anything heavily featuring references to Dickens and Egyptian
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Feb 10, 2011
Sarah
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I have not really ever been disappointed with a Margaret Atwood book. Until now. It seems like she wrote this in one or two stream-of-consciousness evenings and put zero effort into editing it. I was hoping for a thoughtful conversation on debt and its ramfications on our society. I got mostly a narrow and rambling survey of where debt and concepts of debt appear in famous literature. Which definitely had its interesting moments, and helped point out to me valuable classics that I have never rea
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Mar 04, 2009
Dusty
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Payback is the fourth Margaret Atwood book I've read in as many months, and although I doubt it would appeal to anyone but the most devoted Atwood fan, it is a playfully-written and unexpected exploration of what she calls the "human construct" of debt.
The book is divided into five forty-page chapters, each of which could stand as its own essay. The first of these traces the concepts of debt and repayment back through time and finds, in the study of primates, the instinctu More...
The book is divided into five forty-page chapters, each of which could stand as its own essay. The first of these traces the concepts of debt and repayment back through time and finds, in the study of primates, the instinctu More...
Oct 20, 2008
Karen
rated it:
Exellent. Classic Atwood humour and detail. Interesting/curious history of the debt issue. Wry. Predicted, to some degree, the fall presently happening. Definitely worth reading. Small book.
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Jul 19, 2009
Gphatty
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This book would have been rated higher if I could somehow separate my potential for loving Atwood -- and the topic -- from the material in the book. It is really well written; engaging; multi-faceted. The final chapter/section is awesome.
But I really wish there was an over-arching thread, apart from the theme of what it means to be in debt. I still really loved each and every dissection of debt discussed in the book, but I had expected a better thread - it's Atwood, after all - and only More...
But I really wish there was an over-arching thread, apart from the theme of what it means to be in debt. I still really loved each and every dissection of debt discussed in the book, but I had expected a better thread - it's Atwood, after all - and only More...
Jun 10, 2009
Bibliophile
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Margaret Atwood’s Massey Lectures on debt are collected in the slim volume called Payback. This is not a book about consumer debt (or government debt) and how to get out of it; instead, Atwood uses her exceptional erudition and playful wit to talk about “debt” as a concept that is central to social interaction and to discuss how it has appeared as a motif in religion and literature since the time of Gilgamesh. I read this in awe of Atwood’s wide-ranging interests and with a smile at her someti
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Nov 03, 2009
Sarah
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This is, shockingly, the first non-poetry Margaret Atwood I have ever read. I'm not sure how I got through a Canadian education with multiple English classes without being asked to read one of her novels. I give this book three stars for content (though the last chapter is truly wonderful reinterpretation of the Scrooge story) and four stars for voice. I listen to CBC Radio 1 a lot and, as such, can totally hear Atwood's familiar voice while reading this book. Her writing is so exact and perfect
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Mar 07, 2009
Whitney
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While this is a look at debt as a concept, as an ethical issue, as a historical issue, and looks at it through the lens of literature, I was fascinated by it, especially as we look at the sense of debt in relationships- debt as non-tangibles in relationships. What do I owe you as a friend? When does this psychological balance sheet come out of balance? Can it be rectified? Why do debtors try to pretend to be virtuous, when they have essentially received a favor from a creditor who they are n
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