‘I started in the gym for Lent, which was a terrible mistake’

The General says exercise can be bad for your health

Foxfire

Girls in the Gang: Laurent Cantet on Foxfire

‘Foxfire’, the story of the gradual deterioration of a feminist group in 1950s America, gave Palme d’Or-winning French director Laurent Cantet a chance to look at the era’s mythology

Great winner, shame about the shortlist

Kevin Barry’s wonderful novel is a worthy winner of the Impac; but it was chosen from a shortlist that did not reflect the quality of the wider literary field

Mohsin Hamid: ‘Writing a novel is more like digging a well than climbing a mountain’

Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist was an international bestseller and is about to hit the big screen, starring Kate Hudson, Kiefer Sutherland and Riz Ahmed. His new novel is called How To Get Rich In Rising Asia. Is it really a self-help book? Or is it a 21st-century Great Gatsby?