Mozart: the man and his myths
Lucasta Miller on a quartet of Mozartian biographies from David Cairns, Anthony Holden, Julian Rushton and Stanley Sadie.
Daddy knows best
Naomi Wolf completes her journey from radical feminist to cosy mum with a collection of her father's homilies, The Treehouse, says Rachel Cooke.
In the family way
Po Bronson overwhelms Alex Clark with endless detail in his well-meaning collection of family memoirs, Why Do I Love These People?
When Simone met Jean-Paul
Hazel Rowley extols the daring modernity of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre in a fawning double biography, Tête à Tête. Peter Conrad isn't convinced.
At war with Hollywood
David Thompson's interviews in Altman on Altman reveal a director who is notoriously hard to categorise, says Nick Greenslade.
Damp squibs
Tête-à-Tête, Hazel Rowley's portrait of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre, leaves us cold, say Todd McEwen and Lucy Ellmann.
Over here and out there
Tom Dewe Matthews races through Norma Barzman's lively record of life in exile, The Red and the Blacklist.
Between principle and inclination
James Fenton on Benjamin Franklin's autobiography.
Raindrops keep falling …
Lawrence Norfolk follows Tom Fort's unpredictable guide to the rich mysteries of meteorology, Under the Weather.
Tales from the cabbage patch
He was one of the highest-earning dramatists in Britain. Today he's only remembered for Peter Pan. Where did JM Barrie go wrong? By DJ Taylor.
Silicone sisters
Ariel Levy documents how porn has taken over American culturein Female Chauvinist Pigs. Where are the groundbreaking visions of Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan, asks Gaby Wood.
Why is that dog green?
There is an immediacy to Murray Bail's Notebooks that many autobiographies gloss over, says Killian Fox.
Fundamental home truths
Hanif Kureishi examines the complexities of modern British Muslim identity in an essay written after the 7 July Bombings, The Word and the Bomb, says Rafael Behr.
Hands off our Marbles
Dorothy King defends the British Museum in her breezy history of the Parthenon sculptures, The Elgin Marbles, says David Smith.