But McEwan pulls us back from this brink and saves, for now, the Perownes' safety. There's something almost revolutionary, at a time when dysfunction is the norm in fiction, in his decision to write about a happy, talented family and an enduring marriage. He even finds sympathy for Baxter, whose foul nature comes from complicated sources.
Saturday isn't perfect. The use of Matthew Arnold's poem Dover Beach as a plot point feels like a stretch. Also the measured, calm coda following the book's frightening climax doesn't ring true. Still, it's a thoughtful, measured and mature look at our world today, as we try to keep it spinning forward and not back.
Ian McEwan was born on June 21, 1948, in Aldershot, England. He studied at the University of Sussex. While completing his MA degree in English Literature at the University of East Anglia, he took a creative writing course taught by Malcolm Bradbury and Angus Wilson.
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