Legends spin tales

• Published date: 18 April 2024
• Publication title: Guardian, The

by Margaret Atwood and Douglas Preston, Penguin Random House, $38

It’s not often you read a book written by 36 known literary writers, led by legends Margaret Atwood and Douglas Preston.

And this one records a terrifying period in the entire world’s life — two weeks in the grip of Covid in New York City. The writers are everyone from John Grisham and Celeste Ng, Erica Jong and Med Wolitzer, Pat Cummings and James Shapiro.

The story is of a group of...