In brief: Who Owns Football?; The Caretaker; The Land in Winter
A deep dive into football’s puppet masters; an evocative slice of Americana; and another tour de force from Pure author Andrew Miller
The week in audio: Shattered By Hanif Kureishi; The Hidden 20%; Begin Again; The Joe Rogan Experience – review
The now paralysed writer’s memoir is a compelling listen; an award-winning show features neurodivergent guests; Davina McCall connects with fellow midlife women; and the world’s biggest podcaster meets Musk and Trump
The Forbidden Garden of Leningrad by Simon Parkin review – the botanists who defied Hitler
Help future generations or feed the starving? How besieged wartime scientists responded to a terrible dilemma
The best recent science fiction, fantasy and horror – reviews roundup
Blood Over Bright Haven by ML Wang; Jackal by Erin E Adams; The Road to Roswell by Connie Willis; Curdle Creek by Yvonne Battle-Felton; The Incubations by Ramsey Campbell
Long Island by Colm Tóibín review – Jessie Buckley shines voicing the sequel to Brooklyn
The Irish actor’s nuanced narration captures the conflicting emotions in Tóibín’s tale of infidelity, homecoming and the roads not taken
The Proof of My Innocence by Jonathan Coe review – ingenious cosy crime spoof
This tricksy caper ranges from 1980s Cambridge to the rise and fall of Liz Truss with entertaining results
Max Dupain: A Portrait by Helen Ennis review – the man who took Australia’s most famous photo
In this very readable and moving biography, the Sunbaker photographer comes across as someone who spoke against his myth – but also traded on it until the end
The Position of Spoons, and Other Intimacies by Deborah Levy review – portrait of the artists
Levy reflects on the creative women who have inspired her, in essays that range from the trivial to the profound
The Party by Tessa Hadley review – a daringly old-fashioned novella
The domestic details of postwar life are closely observed in this tale of two sisters over one weekend in Bristol
Box Office Poison by Tim Robey review – Hollywood’s fascinating flops
A hilarious account of film’s most stunning failures takes in hubris, stupidity and an assortment of disastrous animals
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button review – warm and winsome musical tugs at the heartstrings
Relocating the F Scott Fitzgerald story to a Cornish fishing village, this is a vivacious yet touching show
Herscht 07769 by László Krasznahorkai review – sinister cosmic visions
A physics student calls on Angela Merkel to help him save the world in this one-sentence onslaught from a ‘master of the apocalypse’
A Beginner’s Guide to Dying by Simon Boas review – what makes life worth living?
Diagnosed with cancer in his 40s, the aid worker looks back on his life and offers advice on confronting death
She’s Always Hungry by Eliza Clark review – dark delights
A bona-fide queen of body horror delves into fears and illicit desires in this engrossing short-story debut
The Party by Tessa Hadley review – sex and the postwar city
The author’s novella about two young women whose yearning for freedom comes at a price sometimes feels unconvincing and underpowered