Cow’s milk and cancer
A new book suggests that cutting out dairy produce can reduce the risk of breast cancer. Gillian Ross examines the evidence
Soul stealers
Victoria Davenport on svengalis of the psyche in Mad Men and Medusas and Svengali's Web
Brain matter
Susan Greenfield suggests a cheap thrill theory of the mind in The Private Life of the Brain
A casket and two obsequies to go, please
Thomas Lynch ranges over subjects from fishing to Bible studies in his new collection of essays, Bodies at Motion and at Rest
Mad and proud
Nicholas Lezard celebrates Mad Pride
The radish revolution
New books raving about the miraculous healing properties
of food - be it beetroot or aloe vera - are appearing on an
almost daily basis. Angelique Chrisafis swots up on the
'alfalfa saved my life' school of literature
Wise children
John McCrone on two studies of childhood development that offer little for the anxious parent
Learning to speak? It’s child’s play
George Steiner surveys Noam Chomsky's New Horizons in the Study of Language and Mind
Couch potatoes
Paul Solotaroff's Group: Six People in Search of a Life is excellent reportage, but fails to ask serious questions of psychotherapy
I feel, therefore I am
Antonio Damasio makes himself up as he goes along. Every waking moment, he is engaged in the study of his identity. Beyond the core self - the man who absent-mindedly picks up the orange juice or steps around the furniture - is an autobiographical fiction; he is an actor in a drama he writes for himself.