What do you think?
Rate this book
The Bad News: From Moral Disorder
“We don’t like bad news, but we need it. We need to know about it in case it’s coming our way.”
This delicious, contemptuous and poignant micro-story is the first in the acclaimed collection, Moral Disorder, from towering author and #1 New York Times Bestseller, Margaret Atwood.
The bad news arrives in the form of a paper, which Tig carries up the stairs to Nell who is wallowing in bed. A year from now, they won’t remember the details, but for now, the bad news sits between the aging couple as they prepare their breakfast together and Nell imagines them in Southern France as the barbarians invade Rome on what is beautiful day, safe and quiet, for now, from the bad news coming their way.
This delicious, contemptuous and poignant micro-story is the first in the acclaimed collection, Moral Disorder, from towering author and #1 New York Times Bestseller, Margaret Atwood.
The bad news arrives in the form of a paper, which Tig carries up the stairs to Nell who is wallowing in bed. A year from now, they won’t remember the details, but for now, the bad news sits between the aging couple as they prepare their breakfast together and Nell imagines them in Southern France as the barbarians invade Rome on what is beautiful day, safe and quiet, for now, from the bad news coming their way.
Audible Audio
Published October 2, 2018
33 people are currently reading
146 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Atwood
668 books89.8k followersMargaret Atwood was born in 1939 in Ottawa and grew up in northern Ontario, Quebec, and Toronto. She received her undergraduate degree from Victoria College at the University of Toronto and her master's degree from Radcliffe College.
Throughout her writing career, Margaret Atwood has received numerous awards and honourary degrees. She is the author of more than thirty-five volumes of poetry, children’s literature, fiction, and non-fiction and is perhaps best known for her novels, which include The Edible Woman (1970), The Handmaid's Tale (1983), The Robber Bride (1994), Alias Grace (1996), and The Blind Assassin, which won the prestigious Booker Prize in 2000. Atwood's dystopic novel, Oryx and Crake, was published in 2003. The Tent (mini-fictions) and Moral Disorder (short stories) both appeared in 2006. Her most recent volume of poetry, The Door, was published in 2007. Her non-fiction book, Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth in the Massey series, appeared in 2008, and her most recent novel, The Year of the Flood, in the autumn of 2009. Ms. Atwood's work has been published in more than forty languages, including Farsi, Japanese, Turkish, Finnish, Korean, Icelandic and Estonian. In 2004 she co-invented the Long Pen TM.
Margaret Atwood currently lives in Toronto with writer Graeme Gibson.
Associations: Margaret Atwood was President of the Writers' Union of Canada from May 1981 to May 1982, and was President of International P.E.N., Canadian Centre (English Speaking) from 1984-1986. She and Graeme Gibson are the Joint Honourary Presidents of the Rare Bird Society within BirdLife International. Ms. Atwood is also a current Vice-President of PEN International.
Throughout her writing career, Margaret Atwood has received numerous awards and honourary degrees. She is the author of more than thirty-five volumes of poetry, children’s literature, fiction, and non-fiction and is perhaps best known for her novels, which include The Edible Woman (1970), The Handmaid's Tale (1983), The Robber Bride (1994), Alias Grace (1996), and The Blind Assassin, which won the prestigious Booker Prize in 2000. Atwood's dystopic novel, Oryx and Crake, was published in 2003. The Tent (mini-fictions) and Moral Disorder (short stories) both appeared in 2006. Her most recent volume of poetry, The Door, was published in 2007. Her non-fiction book, Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth in the Massey series, appeared in 2008, and her most recent novel, The Year of the Flood, in the autumn of 2009. Ms. Atwood's work has been published in more than forty languages, including Farsi, Japanese, Turkish, Finnish, Korean, Icelandic and Estonian. In 2004 she co-invented the Long Pen TM.
Margaret Atwood currently lives in Toronto with writer Graeme Gibson.
Associations: Margaret Atwood was President of the Writers' Union of Canada from May 1981 to May 1982, and was President of International P.E.N., Canadian Centre (English Speaking) from 1984-1986. She and Graeme Gibson are the Joint Honourary Presidents of the Rare Bird Society within BirdLife International. Ms. Atwood is also a current Vice-President of PEN International.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
June 20, 2020
Eh...it's ok.
October 5, 2018
The best part is the first paragraph.
February 9, 2021
Very strange story. Took an unexpected and quite unexplainable turn towards the end. Not a great introduction to Atwood. But, oh well, maybe next time.
December 1, 2025
I’m in love with margret Atwood
October 3, 2018
Excellent
In a time of mostly bad news a little perspective from Margaret Atwood is always a welcome thing to remind us who we are.
In a time of mostly bad news a little perspective from Margaret Atwood is always a welcome thing to remind us who we are.
May 14, 2019
Atwood is Atwood
Puzzling, intense. Charming though and detailed and layered. Maybe I need to read it a second time. So it's worth it.
Puzzling, intense. Charming though and detailed and layered. Maybe I need to read it a second time. So it's worth it.
October 17, 2019
Um??
I agree with the fact that this could have been a great book - great premise.
But I totally missed what happened. It jumped vigorously from one thing to another.
I agree with the fact that this could have been a great book - great premise.
But I totally missed what happened. It jumped vigorously from one thing to another.
November 24, 2018
I didn't realize it was a micro-story, more of an extended short story than a novel or even a novella. I started out really liking it, but was disappointed and puzzled when it came abruptly to an end.
August 11, 2020
What on earth did I just read? I read it TWICE and still don’t understand what the heck this story is about. I was kinda disappointed because my friend recommended this to me and loved it. I wanted to like it. I really did. But idk-
July 9, 2021
I really like the prose, but the story is 10/10 whatthefuck. I can't grasp what happens here by the ending and I think I'd better stop trying.
Read
September 17, 2021read it for school :/
July 1, 2024
A quick listen before bed, but I’m so confused on what happened. A great premise, but poor execution.
August 29, 2025
I have no idea what I just listened to.
October 7, 2025
I couldn't make this make sense to me. I listened twice.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews