Solar

Man Booker Prize winner McEwan's 11th novel follows On Chesil Beach (2007), also available from Recorded Books. One-time Nobel Prize-winning physicist Michael Beard—now middle-aged, overweight, an alcoholic, and a serial monogamist—is well past his glory days. When a renewable energy foundation sends him on a junket to the Arctic to document the effects of global warming, he sees his chance at redemption. British actor Roger Allam nicely presents McEwan's tale, whose writing is beautiful and precise but whose plot is encumbered by the details of Beard's self-absorbed, narcissistic life. Recommended only for inclusive collections, to satisfy demand for British fiction, and where McEwan does well. [Includes a bonus interview with the author; the Nan A. Talese: Doubleday hc was recommended for "fans of McEwan's other works," LJ 4/15/10.—Ed.]—Sandy Glover, Camas P.L., WA