Books

Not since Perfume has a book brought strong smells to you, except these smells are not so good. Clare Clarke's latest novel is set in Victorian London, reviewed here by Susann Cokal

This long, heavy tome makes the case for Mao as the most monstrous tyrant ever. However, it lacks insight into Mao's behaviour, his childhood, his writings and his political values. Review by Michiko Kakutani

Cork's English Market is not just food and trinkets: it is community and history, writes Claire Davenport

The little man began a fight-back this week when Alan Bennett urged fans to buy his book from an independent retailer rather than from a Waterstones or an Amazon. Good-naturedly, Amazon told the BBC that Bennett was "a national treasure" (presumably through gritted teeth). Either way, Bennett is primarily seeking promotion for his new book, Untold Stories Part One, a collection of his writing since his battle with cancer in1997.

In his new memoir, In the Darkroom, Brian Dillon attempts to come to terms with the tragic death of his parents, and subsequently examines the connections between grief, loss and memory, invoking the theories of Proust and Augustine along the way. Review by Daragh Reddin

At first glance Bill and Fred? by John Quinn looks like a revisit to the mood of his award-winning novel, The Summer of Lily and Esme. but Bill and Fred, the elderly ladies in his new novel, are quite different in attitude and abilities from Lily and Esme.

You can divide the nation into those who watch Lost and those who don't, but no matter on which side you fall, few will be unaware of the most expensive US TV show ever made. Featuring survivors of a plane crash marooned on a desert island, the possible dead, possibly doomed cast are under siege from polar bears, magic numbers and motiveless killers. Village, like most of America is hooked, to the point that we're downloading the new series on the internet. No plot give-aways here but readers might be interested to know that the show is rekindling interest in Irish literature.

Like Martin Scorsese's recent documentary about the young, meteoric Bob Dylan, this book powerfully evokes both the excitement and the price of such a sudden rise to fame. Janet Maslin reviews a new book on The Beatles

Slam Dunks and No-Brainers didn't teach PJ O'Rourke anything new about American slang; indignant and intolerant of language, Leslie Saran's book is a humourless failure

Other writers have been quiet, complicit or twittering in the face of modern imperialism. Only Harold Pinter has spoken out – and written – against it consistently. John Pilger celebrates the Nobel Prize-winner