David Hare’s latest volume, We Travelled: Essays and Poems (Faber £14.99; The Week Bookshop £11.99), a collection of his prose and poetry, is published this week.
Twilight of Democracy by Anne Applebaum (2020)
If you’ve read the British press during the pandemic, you will know that once creditable and witty rightwing journalists are now shills for a liar. Applebaum’s book asks why conservatives in the West have so willingly embraced deceit, corruption and authoritarianism. She has answers, too. Penguin £9.99; The Week Bookshop £7.99
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Eichmann in Jerusalem by Hannah Arendt (1963)
The definitive account of the trial of Adolf Eichmann. Isaiah Berlin was once asked to define overrated. He bitched, “Hannah Arendt”. Asked the same, I’d say “Isaiah Berlin”. Penguin £10.99; The Week Bookshop £8.99
A Life of Barbara Stanwyck: Steel-True 1907-1940 by Victoria Wilson (2013)
The history of Hollywood told through the life of one superb working actress. Its 1,056 pages leave our heroine in 1940, aged 33. It’s one of the greatest books about cinema, but where is Volume Two? With Simon Callow’s long-awaited fourth volume on Orson Welles, it’s the great white whale of film publishing. Simon & Schuster £14.99
Faith Healer by Brian Friel (1979)
Friel’s landmark play. A healer has a gift, and he has no idea where it comes from – or why it departs. Sensational and unsurpassed. Faber £9.99; The Week Bookshop £7.99
The Beautiful Fall by Alicia Drake (2006)
About the rivalry and shared loves of a genius, Yves Saint Laurent, and a jealous showman, Karl Lagerfeld. Lagerfeld is Salieri to Saint Laurent’s Mozart. I’ve read it three times, and the dark, destructive world of Paris fashion goes on deepening. Bloomsbury £16.99; The Week Bookshop £13.99
The Hand (La Main) by Georges Simenon (1968)
This is the novel adapted into a stage play, The Red Barn, memorably directed by Robert Icke, and starring Mark Strong. But I might have chosen any of Simenon’s romans durs. Bleak, swift, brutal and unwavering. Penguin £8.99; The Week Bookshop £6.99
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Film reviews: 'Wicked: For Good' and 'Rental Family'Feature Glinda the Good is forced to choose sides and an actor takes work filling holes in strangers' lives
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‘Like a gas chamber’: the air pollution throttling DelhiUnder The Radar Indian capital has tried cloud seeding to address the crisis, which has seen schools closed and outdoor events suspended
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Political cartoons for November 23Cartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include a Thanksgiving horn of plenty, the naughty list, and more
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Film reviews: 'Wicked: For Good' and 'Rental Family'
Feature Glinda the Good is forced to choose sides and an actor takes work filling holes in strangers' lives
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Nick Clegg picks his favourite booksThe Week Recommends The former deputy prime minister shares works by J.M. Coetzee, Marcel Theroux and Conrad Russell
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Park Avenue: New York family drama with a ‘staggeringly good’ castThe Week Recommends Fiona Shaw and Katherine Waterston have a ‘combative chemistry’ as a mother and daughter at a crossroads
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Jay Kelly: ‘deeply mischievous’ Hollywood satire starring George ClooneyThe Week Recommends Noah Baumbach’s smartly scripted Hollywood satire is packed with industry in-jokes
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Motherland: a ‘brilliantly executed’ feminist history of modern RussiaThe Week Recommends Moscow-born journalist Julia Ioffe examines the women of her country over the past century
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Music reviews: Rosalía and Mavis Staplesfeature “Lux” and “Sad and Beautiful World”
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6 homes for entertainingFeature Featuring a heated greenhouse in Pennsylvania and a glamorous oasis in California
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Film reviews: ‘Jay Kelly’ and ‘Sentimental Value’Feature A movie star looks back on his flawed life and another difficult dad seeks to make amends
