THE WRITTEN IMAGE

he volume of Margaret Atwood’s pictured above may look like any other copy of the classic novel. The stark red-and-white image of the eponymous handmaid—now emblematic of the fight for women’s, a frequent target of book bans. White text floats over the image of unsinged open pages: “Because powerful words can never be extinguished.” Atwood’s words were powerful enough, at least, to help raise $130,000 at Sotheby’s June auction of the “Unburnable Book,” a sum, one hopes, that will go a long way toward fueling PEN America’s free-speech advocacy.