Where’s the action?
Jeremy Stangroom has enough of haçiendas
Culture
Writer’s block
Sally Feldman on a flawed portrait of Henry James
God of small meetings
Laurie Taylor asks for a show of hands. Wine will be served later
‘Witless Vulgarity’
A new study of reality TV audiences challenges lazy assumptions about the shows and their viewers. Annette Hill wants the critics to take a fresh look
Frontline Films
Mitchell Miller on two close-up views of the Arab-Israeli conflict
Spectre at the Feast
Jim Herrick enters the murky world of the ghost writer
Private Urgencies
Sarah Lawson is wowed by a progressive poet
Smoke and Mirrors
Wendy Grossman learns a few tricks from Jim Steinmeyer
Divine comedy
Popetowns associate producer, Stacy Herbert, on the farcical story of how the BBC bowed to religious pressure
Throwing Up
Chris Paling is left queasy by Alice Walker