Gore Vidal: Age cannot wither him

On the brink of turning 80, Gore Vidal - aristocrat, intellectual and prolific novelist, playwright, and essayist - is as aloof and outspoken as ever. He talks to Emma Brockes about the corruption of the Bush administration, his ongoing radicalism and the benefits of speaking in complete sentences

Author casts shadow over slave hero

One of black Britain's earliest known authors and most prominent historical figures, Olaudah Equiano, a former slave who bought his freedom and then became a leading voice in the movement to abolish slavery, may have fabricated his accounts of being transported on a slave ship from Africa to the Caribbean, according to a prominent American academic.

All the right moves

Neil Strauss was useless with women. Then he joined a secret society of nerds who, armed with top hats, gold leather boots and a fine line in 'waking hypnosis', mastered the art of picking up girls. Hundreds of conquests later, he reveals all to Emma Forrest.

‘Does that sound arrogant?’

Two years ago, at the age of 22, David Enders went to Baghdad; his plan, to set up a newspaper. It lasted just a few months, but his experiences have produced a gripping book. He speaks to Rosie Anderson.

Voulez-vous poulet avec moi?

With nearly 150 films under his belt, his own vineyards in the Loire and a ravenous love of food, Gérard Depardieu enjoys a legendary appetite for life. Now, with the publication of his first cookbook, he tells Tim Atkin why he's turning his back on Hollywood for greener pastures.

Big players tap into mobile manga market

Japan's obsession with manga is about to take on a new dimension as firms prepare to woo mobile phone users with hundreds of comic-book titles that can be read on 3G handsets. By Justin McCurry.

Death on the Grain Coast

In 1787 a small fleet set sail from London to Sierra Leone. For the hopeful black passengers and their white abolitionist benefactors, it was an extraordinary, utopian venture - to establish the first colony of freed slaves in Africa. In an exclusive extract from his new book, Simon Schama reveals how that dream of a new life turned into a nightmare.

Dalia Ravikovitch

Obituary: Israeli poet whose work revealed her yearning for liberty and justice.

‘I have the hatred in a trunk in storage’

He has never played Twister with Kylie. He did not insult the friends who stood by him during the fatwa. And his new novel is about love, not terrorism. Salman Rushdie sets the record straight.

Rushdie dismisses Galloway’s claims

Salman Rushdie clashed with George Galloway yesterday in a debate about TV and religion and a hypothetical small-screen adaptation of the novelist's controversial book The Satanic Verses. By John Plunkett and Tom Service.