Speaking volumes
Ian Sansom is charmed by John Sutherland's climb from humble origins to success, The Boy Who Loved Books.
Sex and drugs and bacon rolls
Alex James's account of his years of rock star excess, A Bit of a Blur, delights Leonie Cooper.
Facing the music
James Fenton on the consequences of Robert King’s conviction.
Guilty secrets
Michael Coveney enjoys Donald Spoto's Otherwised Engaged - a peep behind the curtain at Alan Bates.
It’s a girl boy thing
Air stewardess Karen Mcleod looks as conventional as her suburban background. But first she discovered lesbianism, then drag and, now, writing. Rachel Cooke reports on the latest, unlikely literary sensation.
A great man denied greatness
Donald Spoto's biography of Alan Bates, Otherwise Engaged, depicts a compassionate man, says Vanessa Thorpe.
A flat-footed hero
Walter Isaacson's Einstein retells science's greatest story, says Robin McKie.
Character studies
When writers are describing a face, discretion is generally the best rule, but with artists it is all in the detail. Lynne Truss reflects on the difference between capturing real and imaginary people.
From Lewis Carroll to Sid James
Alice in Sunderland: An Entertainment by Bryan Talbot is a gloriously ambitious mix of myth, history and autobiography that impresses Michel Faber.
Bryn Terfel
Bryn Terfel first performed at Hay 20 years ago in the tiny Salem Chapel. His return to celebrate the festival’s 20th anniversary only underlined just how things have moved on for both the singer and the event. Terfel is fond … Continue reading
The mother and father of all reunions
Adopted writer AM Homes's The Mistress's Daughter takes an unsatisfactory meeting with her birth parents and turns it into a violent fable for the 21st century, says Hilary Spurling.
The last word
For decades, Günter Grass harboured a shameful secret about his wartime past: that he belonged to the Waffen SS. Here, the German Nobel laureate recalls the day his childhood ended, dancing with his first wife, and beginning the novel that was to make his name.
A cab driver rants
Guardian book club: John Mullan introduces the new discussion by looking at anger in Will Self's The Book of Dave.
Dark matter
Nick Cave's brooding lyrics mark him out not only as a poet of the Australian outback, but as one of the greatest writers on love of our times, argues Will Self.
It’s all Greek to me
Commentary: Maya Jaggi visits Thessaloniki's thriving international book fair and first art biennale.