Cringe benefits
If you occasionally like your reading to have a certain voyeurism, Toby Young's latest catalogue of errors, The Sound of No Hands Clapping, is probably a must, says Caroline Boucher.
There’s poetry – but where is the passion?
Though full of lyricism, Andrew Motion's memoir, In the Blood, is sadly short on emotion, says Rachel Cooke.
From major to minor
Kathryn Hughes takes a look at a selection of historical biographies that examine the lives of those who operated from behind the scenes.
Spies, lies and family ties
William Boyd's Restless, a tale of wartime espionage, is as acute as it is ambitious, says Helen Dunmore.
The ‘Welsh liar’ who fixed it for Freud
Freud's Wizard by Brenda Maddox paints a compelling portrait of the psychoanalyst's most faithful disciple, whose devotion to his master was rarely rewarded, by Peter Conrad.
A life more ordinary
Wayne Rooney's biographer Hunter Davies can remember the Sixties ... more's the pity. Anthony Quinn finds little to enjoy in The Beatles, Football and Me.
Feeble, Bog and the deceptive teddy bear
Simon Jenkins finds there is room for AN Wilson's examination of John Betjeman after all.
My family and other animals
The shadow of Nicholas Mosley's fascist father hangs over his memoir, Time at War, says Francis Beckett.
Alas, poor Will
David Smith on Shakespeare: The Biography by Peter Ackroyd
Garnished with bile
Marco Pierre White was a talented chef, says Jay Rayner, but he serves up a less than toothsome portrait of himself in White Slave.
Read and digest, Mr Blair
The remarkable life of Gertrude Bell offers invaluable lessons on the state of Iraq today, says Rachel Aspden.
The life of Brian – and Mick, too
Bent Raj's photographic account of the Rolling Stones depicts a crucial turning point in their career, says Caroline Boucher
Where the wildings are
Henry Thoreau was its great 19th-century champion, in wartime it was seen as patriotic and it enjoyed a revival during the hippy era - now, in our age of ecological awareness, gathering wild food is fashionable again. Richard Mabey, author of the 1970s cult book Food for Free, explores the literary and social roots of foraging.
Six hundred pages of the real deal
Alan Bennett's memoir, Untold Stories, is neither cosy nor twee, says Nicholas Lezard.
The turncoat’s true character
Duncan Wu enjoys WA Speck's unusual view of Robert Southey.