The odd couple
Gay man takes in teenage niece in New York. Cue bids for the film rights. David Benedict is unconvinced by Edwin Wintle's memoir, Breakfast with Tiffany.
Where’s the life of Larry?
The 20th-century's greatest actor is ill-served by Terry Coleman's unwieldy biography, Olivier, says Anthony Holden.
Cads, coke and all that jazz
Diana Melly's memoir, Take a Girl Like Me, is a testament to her ability to survive the very worst, says Rebecca Seal.
Passion plays
David Hare's collection of essays, Obedience, Struggle and Revolt, is a masterclass in polemic, says Rafael Behr.
The Honeymooners
Peter Bradshaw: Pointless adaptation of a prehistoric US sitcom.
I’m in a band – and I’m not ashamed
Novelist Rick Moody explains how playing music has helped his writing, if not his reputation.
Trash Rumpole at your peril …
Yes, John Mortimer has faults, but why attack a national monument? Caroline Boucher wonders who Graham Lord's bilious biography is aimed at.
Special K
Roberto Calasso turns his elliptical style of enquiry to Franz Kafka in K. But examining Kafka's work can be tricky, however devoted you are, says Adam Mars-Jones.
Well, that’s rich
His mother dated Sinatra and his father was a millionaire, but Sean Wilsey's glamorous childhood was full of pain and misery. Geraldine Bedell is hooked on his accomplished memoir, Oh the Glory of it All.
Keep it brief
A new £15,000 prize for short stories suggests Britain is finally getting over its obsession with the novel. And not before time, says Aida Edemariam.
Home thoughts from Detroit
The personal is Thomas Lynch's strongest suit in his reflections on the post-9/11 world, Booking Passage, says Stephanie Merritt.
Whizz-bangs were him
George Pendle charts the dizzying trajectory of rocket scientist John Whiteside Parsons in Strange Angel.
The man who had a bellyful of eating
William Leith's tale of being a reformed lardbucket, The Hungry Years, will strike a chord with anyone who has been on the slippery slope of over-indulgence, says Rachel Cooke.
The dreamer lives on
Ho Che Anderson exploits the advantages of the graphic form in his 'interpretive' biography of Martin Luther King, says David Thompson.
Archer & Archer
Margaret Crick tries to explain Mary Archer's attraction to Jeffrey in a biography her subject tried to block. Why should anyone care, asks Catherine Bennett.