Non-fictionActing methods...have remarkable similarities to spiritual cults. They have leaders, dogmas, even seminal texts. They have supervised rites and orthodox practices. They have stages of enlightenment, and trained leaders who will inform you whether you’ve reached such heights (and you usually haven’t, unless you’re sleeping with the leader in question). They have devotees and critics. They incite zealous fundamentalism, relationship breakdowns and desperate devotion, mostly due to the careful exploitation of vulnerable people’s trauma.

Memoir THE RUIN OF the new mother is the raspberry. I give Yasmin, her eight-month-old, the bursting prize of the red berry. I know what I am doing. Yasmin’s smooth, brand-name knit has never been stained, until today. I jerk the chain on my...

PoetryTheir house has the taste of salt Pictures framed for satire Balsamic vinegar ripening Offset with olive oil They know themselves What they love What they take seriously What they scoff at Or dismiss They laugh well, between themselves and their close circle It’s almost its own world An earthy...