List $34.99

Written by Ian McEwan - Audio book performed by Steven Crossley - Unabridged Fiction - 9 COMPACT DISCS - 11 hours

Publisher, Recorded Books (March 2005)

New York Times best-selling author Ian McEwan’s novels have won such prestigious awards as the Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award for his modern masterpiece, Atonement. Saturday further proves The New Republic’s claim that McEwan is “one of the most gifted literary storytellers alive.” Neurosurgeon Henry Perowne enjoys life immensely and considers himself fortunate to love the woman he’s married to. But on this day, a chance encounter will turns his life upside-down.

About the Performer: Actor and narrator Steven Crossley has made an enchanted journey from sitting in front of his family’s radio when he was a child to sitting behind a microphone at the Recorded Books studio in Manhattan as a narrator. “Almost my first recollection of listening to stories—and this is in line with a lot of English children—was listening to the radio as a child,” said the London resident, “in particular, Children’s Hour at three in the afternoon.”

Besides his love of that radio show, one of Crossley’s first oral readings deeply planted the acting seed in his heart. “I’ve always had a feeling for reading stories,” he said. “I didn’t have any drama classes in my school, but I had a wonderful English master who had us read in front of the class. I read Lord of the Flies by William Golding.” When he saw the looks on the other students’ faces and felt their rapt attention, “I knew I had a bit of aptitude for it even then.” So even before joining any school plays, he experienced the joy of drama through reading aloud.

After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he embarked on a busy acting career. He has appeared in two films, a dozen television shows and nearly 30 roles in regional theaters and on larger stages in both the USA and England. Crossley has even played a part on an interactive CD-ROM! Finally, though, it is the challenging variety of roles in his audiobook assignments that keeps attracting him to the recording studio. “I get to play such a wonderful cast of characters, from 65-year-old men to 14-year-old women. I’m being stretched as an actor.”

Aside from broadening his dramatic range, Crossley feels that he has refined his approach to his audience since he became a professional narrator. “From recording books, I am constantly reminding myself I am speaking to somebody. If you’re on stage, you have a tendency to talk at somebody. When I’m in the studio, I remind myself to communicate with somebody. Hopefully that’s fed my acting.”

His memories of people, their mannerisms, and ways of speaking have proven to be invaluable references for him in the studio. “When I’m creating a character, I think of people I know. I don’t impersonate them, I just think of them while I’m reading. It helps to have a clear image of the character, and that image is always aided by the writer.”