This is the first book McEwan won the Booker prize for (Atonement being the
second) and it's a short but gripping tale. It concerns an ambitious journalist
and his composer best friend. They are as opposite as they are similar but
when a row over a potentially explosive story escalates past the point of
reconciliation both come up with the same, unpredictable solution. This fast-
paced morality tale is funny, sharp and very clever.
