This is a game I’ve played only twice. The first time I was in grade five, I played it in a cellar, the cellar of a large house belonging to the parents of a girl called Louise. There was a pool table in the cellar but none of us knew anything about pool. There was also a player piano. After a while we got tired of running the punchcard rolls through the player piano and watching the keys go up and down by themselves, like something in a late movie just before you see the dead person. I was in love with a boy called Bill, who was in love with Louise. The other boy, whose name I can’t remember, was in love with me. Nobody knew who Louise was in love with. 

That’s the beginning of “Murder in the Dark,” the short piece at the beginning of Margaret Atwood's Good Bones and Simple Murders. It’s sort of an essay, sort of a short story, sort of a prose poem—an appropriately genre-bending introduction for an author who defies neat, easy categorization.

Atwood, who was born in Ontario, Canada, on Nov. 18, 1939, has published dozens of books over the course of decades. She began as a poet, with her first collection appearing nearly 60 years ago. Facility with language and cutting precision has always been a signature of her work. Consider the poem from Power Politics (1971): 

You fit into me
like a hook into an eye

a fish hook
an open eye.

Controversy has always been a signature of her work as well. In recent years, it's come to the forefront online, but Atwood has embraced liminal spaces long before the Internet existed. (She once quipped on Twitter, “Taking a break from being Supreme Being Goddess, omniscient, omnipotent, and responsible for all ills. Sorry I have failed the world so far on gender equality.”) She wrote frankly and earnestly about women’s bodies when it was taboo to do so, in ways that presaged some of the most boundary-pushing feminist authors of today. 

And Atwood—one of NYPL's esteemed Library Lions—is incredibly prolific. She's written science fiction and comic books; dystopian novels replete with black humor; retellings of folktales and Shakespeare; insightful literary criticism and sharp essays; and much more. Her work is so varied and diverse that we’ve organized this where-to-start post by reader types. 

If you're in New York, check out our upcoming one-night-only celebration of Atwood's life and work! It's sold out, but stand-by tickets might become available at the door. And wherever you live, you can check out the books below from your local library.

For an Atwood newbie: The Handmaid’s Tale (1985)

Truly, it's the only place to start, even if it’s not totally emblematic of the rest of her books (and nothing really is, so might as well start with a classic).

This look at the near future presents the story of Offred, a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, once the United States, an oppressive world where women are no longer allowed to read and are valued only as long as they are viable for reproduction.

 

For existing Atwood fans: The Robber Bride (1993)

This penetrating look at women's friendship is compulsively readable; one reviewer called it "a bit trashier than something you would expect from Atwood." Delightful.

Classmates from university, Rox, Charis, and Tony all shared the seductive and destructive experience of a past friendship with the flashy, sensuous, smart, irresistible Zenia.

 

For short-story lovers: Stone Mattress: Nine Tales (2014)

Mostly new, never-before-published stories that manage to be both witty and cutting at once.

A collection of short stories featuring a widowed writer who is guided by her late husband's voice and a woman whose genetic abnormality causes her to be mistaken for a vampire.

 

For history-lovers: Alias Grace (1997)

Set in 1843, this Booker Prize finalist takes readers deep into a Victorian murder mystery.

Takes readers into the life and mind of Grace Marks, one of the most notorious women of the 1840s, who is serving a life sentence for murders she claims she cannot remember.
 

For the literarily inclined: Hag-seed : The Tempest Retold (2016)

Many readers may have missed this outstanding entry in the Hobart Shakespeare series.

A psychologically charged story [that] follows the retribution plot of a deposed artistic director who teaches prison inmates while consulting with a fantasy child who has taken the place of the daughter he lost years earlier.

For graphic novel fans: Angel Catbird series (starting 2016)

One of the most unexpected entries on this list! Atwood recently collaborated with illustrator Johnnie Christmas on a comic book series that's been hailed as funny, offbeat, and engaging.

On a dark night, young genetic engineer Strig Feleedus is accidentally mutated by his own experiment when his DNA is merged with that of a cat and an owl.

 

For sci-fi buffs: Oryx & Crake (2003)

This book, the first in the MaddAdam series, began Atwood's serious forays into science fiction.

A novel of the future explores a world that has been devastated by ecological and scientific disasters.

For more on Atwood:

• Listen to all of “Murder in the Dark” read out loud, as part of our audio short-story series.

• See all of Atwood’s books in our catalog.

• Check out her work as an audiobook.

• Read two personal recommendations from our librarians.

All summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.

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Have trouble reading standard print? Many of these titles are available in formats for patrons with print disabilities.

Staff picks are chosen by NYPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We'd love to hear your ideas too, so leave a comment and tell us what you’d recommend. And check out our Staff Picks browse tool for more recommendations!