Norm Macdonald shades Margaret Atwood and the author responds
The comedian has a problem with Atwood's 'obvious, sweaty prose'
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CELEBRITY Norm Macdonald
Norm Macdonald, the Canadian comedian known for his time with 'SNL,’ has taken to Twitter to say he isn’t a fan of Margaret Atwood’s work. And the author has responded.
“Just because I detest the obvious, sweaty prose of @MargaretAtwood, this does not mean I do not appreciate Canadian writers,” tweeted Macdonald on January 28.
Just because I detest the obvious, sweaty prose of @MargaretAtwood, this does not mean I do not appreciate Canadian writers. Margaret Lawrence, Steven Leacock, Robertson Davis, Mordecai Richler, and the greatest writer in the world today, Alice Munro, should be read repeatedly
— Norm Macdonald (@normmacdonald) January 29, 2018
This isn’t the first time Macdonald has made anti-Atwood remarks. He criticized her in 2016 and again in 2017. But the author has largely remained quiet about this supposed feud. Now, however, she’s shown that she knows Macdonald’s talking about her.
“Was a longtime personal friend,” Atwood responded in a tweet that tags Macdonald and includes his original tweet.
Was a longtime personal friend.
— Margaret E. Atwood (@MargaretAtwood) January 29, 2018
Fans noticed.
oh boy it’s time for a Twitter fight at 1 AM
— YUNG ARTHRITIS (@yungarthritis) January 29, 2018
Now, the confusion: did she mean that novelist Timothy Findley was a friend, or that Macdonald used to be one before his comments?
At the very least, Atwood’s reply seems to indicate she knows Macdonald tagged her. She may very well know what he said.
Which some folks have brought up. Not liking Atwood’s work is one thing (plenty of people tweeted that they didn’t), but some believe it was in poor taste to tag her in a critical tweet.
It's fine to not like people's work but @ ing them is pretty rude, just like saying directly to their face you don't like them, why bother?
— Paul McAnea (@mcanea) January 29, 2018
What will Macdonald say next? And will Atwood ever respond more directly?
It’s likely the war of words will continue.