Hot garbage is a big overstatement, but I'd agree that its fame has more to do with hitting a nerve than with its being a remarkably good book. I'd personally p

Hot garbage is a big overstatement, but I'd agree that its fame has more to do with hitting a nerve than with its being a remarkably good book. I'd personally probably put it at the bottom of the Atwood novels I've read—but, at the same time, might well recommend it first to many people coming to Atwood, today. It's not bad, it's "hot" right now, and it's not a challenging read (unlike, say, Surfacing)