Book of the Week - Ian McEwan, Solar

I am not usually a big fan of Ian McEwan. Indeed, I have found some of his novels (Saturday, for instance), fairly irritating. Nonetheless, the release of one of his books is a significant literary event in the UK, and he almost invariably is a candidate for the Booker Prize. Initial reviews of Solar are very promising. It tackles a topical subject (climate change) along with the world of science and human relationships and greed more generally. In addition to the normal hardback edition, a signed imited edition from Waterstones is promised. I would prefer a signed copy of the former, but will provide further details of the latter when available.

"Michael Beard is a Nobel prize-winning physicist whose best work is behind him. Trading on his reputation, he speaks for enormous fees, lends his name to the letterheads of renowned scientific institutions and half-heartedly heads a government-backed initiative tackling global warming. A compulsive womaniser, Beard finds his fifth marriage floundering. But this time it is different: she is having the affair, and he is still in love with her. When Beard's professional and personal worlds collide in a freak accident, an opportunity presents itself for Beard to extricate himself from his marital mess, reinvigorate his career and save the world from environmental disaster. Ranging from the Arctic Circle to the deserts of New Mexico, "Solar" is a serious and darkly satirical novel, showing human frailty struggling with the most pressing and complex problem of our time. A story of one man's greed and self-deception, it is a profound and stylish new work from one of the world's great writers."