Books

A new thesaurus explains how to pair flavours, freeing amateurs to create recipes

Salman Rushdie spent almost a decade in hiding after Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against him

Plus, Patrick McCabe’s latest ‘Bog Gothic’ novel, Nora Ephron in fine form, writers’ favourite books, comedian Russell Peters, and the war between chocolate-makers

On what to eat to avoid catching colds, herbs that work, and being a human guinea pig

Plus, camps for African witches, a doorstopper debut novel, the National Enquirer founders, the brilliant early work of Gay Talese and the backstory of the Catholic abuse scandal

On choosing McGill, flirting with Queen’s and snubbing Saskatchewan. ‘I got that so wrong!’

An oncologist’s beautifully written history attempts to grapple with the disease

Creating glorious fresh foliage from an old government manual

On terrorism, marriage, and growing up in a city where she couldn’t sit at the lunch counter

Plus, Antonia Fraser’s marriage to Harold Pinter, the fakeness of statistics, and Stephen Sondheim