Two into one
Diana Evans's exploration of the pains and solaces of twinhood, 26a, impresses Maya Jaggi.
Couldn’t save their bacon
Rachel Cooke is moved by The Farm in which Richard Benson, a former editor of the Face, details the collapse and sale of his family's business.
Art for whose sake?
Peter Conrad wonders why Nigel Spivey's study of art's influence through the ages, How Art Made the World, assumes its readers are unfamiliar with the name 'Plato'.
He’s all right, Jack
Originally written as a screenplay, Jack Rosenthal's An Autobiography in Six Acts is engaging and entertaining, says Ursula Kenny.
Naughty naughty!
Does Leigh Eduardo have anything new to say about famous mistresses, asks Frances Wilson.
Jesus 19 and Ted’s big adventure
Darryl Pinckney enjoys Percival Everett's riotous satire on modern times, American Desert.
Inside the new superpowers
Thomas Friedman takes a surprisingly upbeat view of the changing world order in The World is Flat, says John Kampfner.
Don’t waste pity on me
Kidnapped, tortured and abused as a child, Sabine Dardenne still insists she isn't a victim. Louise France on her bold, vivid memoir, I Choose to Live.
Village voice
The son of a Senegalese fisherman, Ousmane Sembène was expelled from school for slapping a teacher. After fighting with the French in the second world war, he joined the struggle for independence. A lifelong Marxist, he wrote novels and made pioneering films about the struggles of African people. His latest, award-winning feature opens in the UK next month.
Girls just want to have done with it
Drink, drugs, self-harming ... it's tough being a teenager. Lucy Mangan on memoirs from Koren Zailckas and Victoria Leatham with happy endings.
I only want his body
Lorna Gibb has given Lady Hester Stanhope the biography she deserves, says Frances Wilson.
The empty shell suit
Decca Aitkenhead is disappointed by Robert Elms' costume drama, The Way We Wore.
Who’s who?
Disgraced journalist Michael Finkel tells the tale of his bizarre friendship with the man who stole his identity in True Story. Blake Morrison is intrigued.
Hone that satire
David McKie on The Laughter of Triumph, Ben Wilson's biography of the unjustly neglected Regency radical, William Hone.
All we are saying…
Deepak Chopra has sorted out love, wealth and longevity. Now he tackles world peace in Peace is the Way.