On Chesil Beach in Vintage Paperback

McEwan's On Chesil Beach is now available in paperback from Vintage.

Order online via Amazon.co.uk, Vintage, or from a variety of quality Independent Booksellers.

From the Publisher:

The year is 1962. Florence, the daughter of a successful businessman and an aloof Oxford academic, is a talented violinist. She dreams of a career on the concert stage and of the perfect life she will create with Edward, the earnest young history student she met by chance and who unexpectedly wooed her and won her heart. Edward grew up in the country on the outskirts of Oxford where his father, the headmaster of the local school, struggled to keep the household together and his mother, brain-damaged from an accident, drifted in a world of her own. Edward’s native intelligence, coupled with a longing to experience the excitement and intellectual fervour of the city, had taken him to University College in London. Falling in love with the accomplished, shy and sensitive Florence – and having his affections returned with equal intensity – has utterly changed his life.

Their marriage, they believe, will bring them happiness, the confidence and the freedom to fulfill their true destinies. The glowing promise of the future, however, cannot totally mask their worries about the wedding night. Edward, who has had little experience with women, frets about his sexual prowess. Florence’s anxieties run deeper: she is overcome by conflicting emotions and a fear of the moment she will surrender herself.

From the precise and intimate depiction of two young lovers eager to rise above the hurts and confusion of the past, to the touching story of how their unexpressed misunderstandings and fears shape the rest of their lives, On Chesil Beach is an extraordinary novel that brilliantly, movingly shows us how the entire course of a life can be changed – by a gesture not made or a word not spoken.

Atonement for AS/A-Level English

Student Text Guides are writtten by teachers and examiners for the specific needs of students of AS/A-level English Literature, whether attempting a coursework assignment or revising for an examination. They should be used as an accompaniment to the novel, not as a substitute.

Order a copy online via Amazon.co.uk or a wide selection of high-quality Independent Booksellers.

Nostalgia or Perversion?

A new essay on Ian McEwan's The Comfort of Strangers has been published in Nostalgia or Perversion? Gothic Rewriting from the Eighteenth Century until the Present Day. Ed. Isabella van Elferen. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2007.

Written by Funda Civelekoglu, the essay is titled 'Gothic Literature from a Cultural Ecological Perspective: Ian McEwan’s The Comfort of Strangers', pp. 86-94. (ISBN 1-84718-247-X / ISBN 13: 9781847182470)

Order from the publisher Cambridge Scholars Publishing, from Amazon.co.uk, or Amazon.com.

McEwan Interviewed about the Man Booker Prize

The Man Booker Prize Website features an interview with Ian McEwan titled, "A ‘first time’ as awesome as Booker night".

From the Interview:

"I’m delighted to be shortlisted for ‘On Chesil Beach’ – without question, it’s a great honour. The evening itself can be quite an ordeal for the writers. Writing is no more a competitive sport than reading is. I’ve often thought that the Booker Prize should be even more august, like the Nobel – do away with the shortlist, announce the winner and fiver other commended writers then have a celebratory feast."

Read the full interview.

2007 Man Book Prize Longlist

Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach has been longlisted for the 2007 Man Booker Prize. McEwan previously won the Booker Prize for his novel Amsterdam.

The complete list of titles include:

Darkmans by Nicola Barker (Fourth Estate)
Self Help by Edward Docx (Picador)
The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng (Myrmidon)
The Gathering by Anne Enright (Jonathan Cape)
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid (Hamish Hamilton)
The Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davies (Sceptre)
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones (John Murray)
Gifted by Nikita Lalwani (Viking)
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan (Jonathan Cape)
What Was Lost by Catherine O'Flynn (Tindal Street)
Consolation by Michael Redhill (William Heinemann)
Animal's People by Indra Sinha (Simon & Schuster)
Winnie & Wolf by A N Wilson (Hutchinson)

Congratulations to all the longlisted finalists.

The 2007 shortlist will be announced on Thursday 6th September at a press conference at Man Group’s London office. The winner will be announced on Tuesday 16th October at an awards ceremony at Guildhall, London. Visit the Man Booker Prize Website for more information.

Order On Chesil Beach online via Amazon.com, Nan A. Talese, Powell's, Jonathan Cape, Random House Canada, Random House Australia, localbookshops.co.uk, Amazon.co.uk, Waterstone's, or from a variety of quality Independent Booksellers.

McEwan Interview: Science Weekly Podcast

In "A Matter of Human Ingenuity" Ian McEwan talks about the influence of science on his writing. He also discusses his science heroes, such as E.O. Wilson, Steven Pinker, and Voltaire.

The 30-minute interview was made available on 30 July 2007, via the Guardian Weekly's Science Weekly Podcast [Audio available online as an .mp3 or you can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes].

Interview: The Kenyon Review

The Kenyon Review editor David Lynn interviews Ian McEwan in the Summer 2007 issue (vol. 29, no. 3): 38-51.

For information on subscribing to The Kenyon Review, please visit their website at http://www.kenyonreview.org/

Atonement -- Film Trailer

The Working Title website has posted a trailer for the film adaptation of McEwan's Atonement. You can view the trailer in a small or a large format. Other versions of the trailer are also available on YouTube.

For the most updated information about the film, please be sure to visit the Working Title website and the Focus Features website.