Bono is undoubtedly a decisive figure, and Harry Browne's new polemic on the Irish music star has prompted some combative debate. Reviewing The Frontman: Bono (In The Name of Power), Terry Eagleton is impressed by Browne's research and his "simple but devastating" case. "As a multimillionaire investor, world-class tax avoider, pal of Bush and Blair and crony of the bankers and neo-cons, Bono has lent credence to the global forces that wreak much of the havoc he is eager to mop up," Eagleton writes. The comments below the review are also very much worth a read.
Also being reconsidered this week is Marx, at the hand of Jonathan Sperber in his new volume Karl Marx: a Nineteenth-Century Life, which is our book of the week. “At every stage of this book there is a new insight into what is usually familiar Marx territory – the complicated relationship with his beloved father Heinrich; the family's tradition of Judaism; the relative poverty of Jenny's family,” writes Tristam Hunt in his review.
Other non-fiction reviewed this week includes Jonathan Keats' examination of forgery and art, Forged: Why Fakes Are the Great Art of Our Age, while Luke Harding looks at a lucid study of the never-ending Putin era: Fragile Empire: How Russia Fell In and Out of Love With Vladimir Putin.
Elsewhere, John Sutherland recommends some reading for severe dyslexic Jamie Oliver, who for the first time has read a book all the way through from beginning to end. There is good fiction about cuisine, Sutherland notes. But oddly little of it. Do add to the list if you have a favourite.
And in the week that I Am Legend writer Richard Matheson died, we look back at his life and works – including his place as inspiration to Stephen King. Alison Flood pays tribute to Matheson: I Am Legend is “the king of vampire novels” she writes. Many SF writers have this week been echoing that thought.
If you are someone scared off by science fiction, or convinced you don't like it, however, Damien Walters has been producing a list of five SF novels for people who hate the genre. You never know, you might change your mind.
Also functioning as both a brilliant shopping list and a memory jog for great novels you may not have returned to for some time, fans of espionage should click over to historian Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones's top 10 classic spy novels. From Joseph Conrads' The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale to John le Carré's Tinker Tailor, you'll be crossing off the ones already on your bookshelves, and placing your orders for the gaps. A thrilling time awaits.
Fiction reviews this week include Citadel by Kate Mosse, and Dirty Work by Gabriel Weston whose first book, Direct Red described her rise as an ambitious surgeon, and her decision to leave medicine for writing. Evie Wyld's second novel, All the Birds, Singing, a tale of Jake, a woman keeping a small flock of sheep on a fictional island, flicks between Britain and Australia. Nicholas Lezard's paperback of the week is Mr Darwin's Gardener by Kristina Carlson
And if you fancy a litle extra reading, it's the perfect time to join our reading group. Help choose our title for July – we're looking for books around the theme of heroes. Sam Jordan gets the ball rolling with a handful of suggestions including Billy Lynn's Halftime Walk, written by Ben Fountain – “the best new book I have read this year”. Add your suggestions in the comments.
