It's a good week for Ian McEwan. The film of his book Atonement opens tomorrow—although not to universal acclaim. He's also on the Man Booker prize shortlist again for On Chesil Beach—reviewed by Tom Chatfield in our April issue. Nearly a decade ago, shortly after McEwan won the Booker for Amsterdam, Jason Cowley profiled him in Prospect. Cowley was a Booker judge in 1997, when Enduring Love was published and provides some insight into why that novel, which some critics thought was superior to Amsterdam, didn't make the shortlist that year.
