Satin Island by Tom McCarthy

This is a short book, almost a novella, but it is packed with fine writing and images.  It was short listed for the Booker Prize this year, and of the four books that I have read on that list, this is my second choice to take the prize.  There are two caveats to that--the first is that I have not read the Anne Tyler book, which if the past predicts the future, then I am bound to like a lot, and A Little Life is really quite good and it would be hard to top.

I often feel with some of these brainy works of fiction might I might be missing the point, but to me this is an elegant social commentary on modern life.  The protagonist, U, is an anthropologist who is employed by a multinational corporation for the main purpose of commentating on us, the modern man, and to put us within the context of all man.  Yes, it is a bit lofty, with a minimal plot, but it is a joy to read.  Don't miss it.