Books and Brunch to Discuss Ian McEwan’s “Machines Like Me,” Oct. 19

 

Please join National Press Club Books and Brunch for a discussion of “Machines Like Me” by Ian McEwan at noon Saturday, Oct. 19, in the Fourth Estate Restaurant.

Books and Brunch is open to all Club members and their guests. Lunch may be ordered off the restaurant’s menu. It is not mandatory to have read the book. Plenty to learn from hearing the discussion.

If you are able to attend, please contact Fay Iudicello at [email protected] or call her at (703) 989-4503 before noon on Thursday, Oct. 17. We want to assure adequate seating and service for all attendees.

“Machines Like Me” takes place in an alternative 1980s London. Britain has lost the Falklands war, Margaret Thatcher is defeated by Labour Party leader Tony Benn, and Alan Turing is alive and has achieved a breakthrough in artificial intelligence. The main character, Charlie, is drifting through life as a day trader and has fallen in love with his neighbor Miranda. When he comes into money, he buys Adam, one of the first synthetic humans. With Miranda’s help, he designs Adam’s personality. The near perfect result is beautiful, strong, and clever.

In this, his latest novel, Ian McEwan asks whether a machine can understand the human heart or whether we are the ones who lack understanding.