The shape we’re in
Review: Bodies by Susie OrbachFat is no longer simply a feminist issue - it's a commercial one too, says Hilary Mantel
Tales of ordinary madness
Norah Vincent, John O'Donoghue and Michael Greenberg all have three different views of mental illness that share a redemptive fortitude. By Blake Morrison
Biofuels more harmful to humans than petrol and diesel, warn scientists
Corn-based bioethanol has higher burden on environment and human health by causing more heart disease and respiratory disorders, says US study
Lessons on the body politic
Review: Bodies by Susie OrbachWilliam Leith salutes a timely and powerful polemic by Susie Orbach on the western obsession with achieving physical perfection
Drawing on experience
Mark Drinkwater on Living with a Black Dog, a picture book which offers practical and humorous tips on living with depression
On a mission to see the bright side
Review: The Optimist by Laurence ShorterA one-gag stand-up routine that places the rewards of a quick fix above the pleasures of deeper self-discovery, says Simon Garfield
Mad, Bad and Sad
Review: A History of Women and The Mind Doctors from 1800 to the Present by Lisa Appignanesi
The best novels about madness
Lisa Appignanesi: Novelists respond to the rise and rise of the mind-doctoring professions of the 20th century
Mad, Bad and Sad
Review: Mad, Bad and Sad by Lisa AppignanesiThis ambitious study exhilaratingly covers two centuries of developments, finds John Dugdale