Vendetta fear after poet murdered
Two brothers killed in retaliation for the shooting of 82-year-old writer in a small Sardinian town
Academic tug-of-love over De Beauvoir legacy
Feminist philosopher's sex life may overshadow centenary, fear experts
50-year-old vendetta suspected in killing of Sardinian poet, 82
· Marotto famous for verses about peasants and bandits· Earlier life of crime may be link to peacemaker's death
The new atheism
Brendan O'Neill: There is more humanity in the 'superhuman' delusions of the devout than there is in the realism of the hectoring atheists
Julien Gracq
Obituary: French novelist who refused the Goncourt
Run for your lives
Why the kite runners had to flee Afghanistan
Shocked student provides quote of the year
An American student has beaten world leaders and beauty queens to provide the most memorable line of 2007, according to a list of the top 10 US quotes
Fantasy becomes reality for Rings fans as Jackson agrees to produce Hobbit films
Peter Jackson, director of the $3bn-plus trilogy The Lord of the Rings, has signed up to produce two films based on The Hobbit, expected to go into production in 2009
Reading beyond the lines
Edmund Wilson's perception gave him an unparalleled understanding of American literature and life, says Devin McKinney
Masters of the Universe still run New York
Violent districts have been gentrified but, 20 years after The Bonfire of the Vanities, rich white bankers are even richer, reports Paul Harris
Fight for ‘honour’ at 92 reveals a Nazi’s past
Court action over claims of fathering a baby leads to new Holocaust link
After The Perfect Storm
Sebastian Junger found fame with his vivid account of a fishing boat engulfed by 100ft waves. His latest work chronicles a different kind of terror, in Afghanistan. By Ed Pilkington