‘Unburnable’ copy of Handmaid’s Tale auctioned for $130,000

By HILLEL ITALIE
AP National Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — A specially commissioned, unburnable edition of Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” has been auctioned for $130,000, Sotheby’s announced Tuesday. Proceeds will be donated to PEN America, which advocates for free expression. The 384-page book consists mainly of Cinefoil, a specially treated aluminum product, and was announced last month at PEN’s annual fundraising gala. To help promote the initiative, Atwood agreed to be filmed attempting — unsuccessfully — to incinerate a prototype with a flame thrower. “I’m very pleased that the one-of-a-kind Unburnable Book of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ has raised so much money for PEN America,” Atwood said in a statement.