Margaret Atwood protests book bans with ‘unburnable’ copy of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ – By Kris Holt (Engadget) / May 25, 2022
Watch the author take a flamethrower to a fireproof edition of her dystopian magnum opus.
Book bans are becoming more prevalent in US school libraries and classrooms, making it harder (but not impossible) for students to get their hands on certain texts that might expand their worldview. To raise awareness of such moves and perhaps protest the threat of literal book burning, Margaret Atwood and Penguin Random House are auctioning a one-off, “unburnable” edition of her classic dystopian novel, The Handmaid’s Tale.
The publisher says it’s “a powerful symbol against censorship and a reminder of the necessity of protecting vital stories.” This copy of the book has been printed and bound in fireproof materials, including white heat shield foil pages and a phenolic hard cover. Atwood put a prototype copy to the test by trying to burn it with a flamethrower.
