The Road author Cormac McCarthy turns in first original screenplay

Novelist's 'spec' feature-film script deals with a lawyer who becomes embroiled in drug trade in south-west US

Can you turn Michael Jackson’s lyrics into poetry worthy of Robert Burns?

Open thread: A Jackson catalogue of songs based on Burns's poetry has been found – we'd like you to turn it around

Thomas Jefferson’s revolutionary take on the Bible reissued

Former US president took a razor to parts of the Gospels he did not agree with to compile his own version

The literary significance of dead mules

If it's true southern American 20th-century literature, a mule has to die – fictionally, of course

John Milton, part 7: Adam, Eve and partnership

Jessica Martin: How to believe: Milton's view of marriage as partnership gives Eve a prominence that works against the misogyny of the tradition he uses

Why It’s Kicking Off Everywhere: The New Global Revolutions by Paul Mason – review

Paul Mason's essay on a year of revolts is passionately written but he lets his own political leanings get too much in the way, says Ian Birrell

The Obamas: A Mission, A Marriage by Jodi Kantor – review

A revealing portrayal of President Obama highlights the personal failings of his first term in office, writes Justin Webb

Michelle Obama rejects claims of backroom conflict at White House

First lady rebuts 'angry black woman' allegations in new book as election campaign gains momentum

Salman Rushdie and the Deobandi school of thought

Jenny Taylor: The seminary that has called for Salman Rushdie to be banned from India has a long history of opposition to British colonialism

The unauthorised Obama biography: the key revelations

Jodi Kantor's much hyped book about the Obamas is published tomorrow. Here are some of the juiciest bits

John Milton, part 6: of course the poet can’t justify God

Jessica Martin: How to believe: Milton can't turn God into a character. But he can show Adam and Eve encountering God through love and sacrifice

Why Demi Moore’s latest role could be her funniest yet

The news that Demi Moore is to play pioneering feminist Gloria Steinem is another hilarious example of miscasting

Churchill, Henry V and Napoleon? Overrated, says BBC History magazine

Also among the most overrated people in history, according to the magazine, are Charles Darwin, Spartacus and Malcolm X

Is General Petraeus the whisky-drinking, pistol-toting soldier on the cover of The Operators?

A new book that claims to be the 'wild and terrifying inside story of America's war in Afghanistan' has a general on the cover that some say is based on the US military commander