Canadian author Margaret Atwood has taken a flamethrower to the newest edition of her acclaimed dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale to demonstrate the special-edition book's "fireproof" quality.
Published by Penguin Random House and limited to an edition of one, the "unburnable" book was printed "to raise awareness about the proliferating book banning and educational gag orders in American schools nationwide, and to raise money to support PEN America's crucial work to counter this national crisis of censorship."
The fireproof edition of The Handmaid's Tale is currently being auctioned off by Sotheby's, where it's expected to sell for $50,000 to $100,000 USD. As of press time, the current bid stands at $48,000 USD.
Along with a description of the edition that details a printing process using black-and-white-coated aluminum Cinefoils, nickel wire sewing materials and aerospace-quality woven stainless steel head and tail bands, the book also comes with a promotional video of Atwood attempting to torch its pages with an actual flamethrower.
"I never thought I'd be trying to burn one of my own books... and failing," Atwood said in a statement [via People]. "The Handmaid's Tale has been banned many times — sometimes by whole countries, such as Portugal and Spain in the days of Salazar and the Francoists, sometimes by school boards, sometimes by libraries."
She added: "Let's hope we don't reach the stage of wholesale book burnings, as in Fahrenheit 451. But if we do, let's hope some books will prove unburnable — that they will travel underground, as prohibited books did in the Soviet Union."
You can bid on the very pricey, very hardcore book here.
Watch Atwood try to burn the unburnable below.
Published by Penguin Random House and limited to an edition of one, the "unburnable" book was printed "to raise awareness about the proliferating book banning and educational gag orders in American schools nationwide, and to raise money to support PEN America's crucial work to counter this national crisis of censorship."
The fireproof edition of The Handmaid's Tale is currently being auctioned off by Sotheby's, where it's expected to sell for $50,000 to $100,000 USD. As of press time, the current bid stands at $48,000 USD.
Along with a description of the edition that details a printing process using black-and-white-coated aluminum Cinefoils, nickel wire sewing materials and aerospace-quality woven stainless steel head and tail bands, the book also comes with a promotional video of Atwood attempting to torch its pages with an actual flamethrower.
"I never thought I'd be trying to burn one of my own books... and failing," Atwood said in a statement [via People]. "The Handmaid's Tale has been banned many times — sometimes by whole countries, such as Portugal and Spain in the days of Salazar and the Francoists, sometimes by school boards, sometimes by libraries."
She added: "Let's hope we don't reach the stage of wholesale book burnings, as in Fahrenheit 451. But if we do, let's hope some books will prove unburnable — that they will travel underground, as prohibited books did in the Soviet Union."
You can bid on the very pricey, very hardcore book here.
Watch Atwood try to burn the unburnable below.
