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RereadingMuriel SparkThe Comforters, Muriel Spark's first novel, was a brilliant blast against the realist fashion of its day. It treats madness and evil with the mirthful lightness that would become the hallmark of her fiction, writes Ali SmithIn 1957, the year of first publication of The Comforters, angry young men were all the rage in literary Britain. Writers such as John Wain, Colin Wilson, John Braine and John Osborne honed a documentary-realist art that, by its fusion of kitchen-sink realism, fury and mundanity, proclaimed itself authentic.

Madonna This article is more than 10 years oldMadonna apologises for using racial term on Instagram postThis article is more than 10 years old• 'I am sorry if I have offended anyone with my use of the N word' • Singer says phrase was a term of endearment for white son Madonna on Saturday apologised for using a racial slur on Instagram to refer to her white son, a day after calling those who criticised her language "

World Cup 2014 squadsPortugal This article is more than 9 years oldPortugal squad for 2014 World Cup: the 23 chosen by Paulo BentoThis article is more than 9 years oldThis is the Portugal squad for the Fifa 2014 World Cup finals with the official squad numbers Angola-born midfielder who is future of Portuguese football Portugal: a tactical analysis Which player was called a ‘rotten apple’ by a club president?

‘They were part of the fabric of every family Christmas’: Elizabeth Quinn and her mother with a pot of ‘Gran's beans’‘They were part of the fabric of every family Christmas’: Elizabeth Quinn and her mother with a pot of ‘Gran's beans’ChristmasLast year at Elizabeth Quinn’s Christmas, the green beans were served whole, al dente and bright green. They were nothing like ‘Gran’s beans’ This festive season, a combination of coronavirus, distance and the rising costs of air travel will mean an incomplete family gathering for many.

Boss cat … Viv Groskop's pet, Julian.Boss cat … Viv Groskop's pet, Julian.The pet I'll never forgetLife and styleWe can only speculate about what our ginger and white moggy gets up to away from home. But crime and violence are clearly involved I grew up around different kinds of domestic cat. My grandparents had a cat. My parents had three. My sister has had seven cats over the years. So I thought I was pretty familiar with their behaviour parameters.

The ObserverUmberto EcoReviewUmberto Eco's picarasque novel about 19th century Jew-haters is a gift for conspiracy theoristsImagine Dan Brown adorned with a PhD: that's Umberto Eco, who before he took up fiction 30 years ago in The Name of the Rose was a semiotician and a medieval literary scholar. Like Brown's The Da Vinci Code and The Lost Symbol, Eco's sixth novel, The Prague Cemetery, snakes along an underground trail that twists through the enlightened heresies and bigoted gospels respectively propagated by Freemasons and Illuminati, Jesuits and Jew-baiters, before hinting at an ideological conspiracy that underlines the deceits of contemporary politics.

ETHICAL CONUNDRUMSWhat, if anything, is the difference between a wonk, a geek, a nerd and an anorak? Terry Norman, Ammanford, Wales In the US there are significant differences between these words. A "wonk" is an expert on a practical matter, especially in government, as in "policy wonk". A "nerd" is knowledgeable about arcane matters such as science and computers but has social skills. A "geek" is a nerd with no social skills.

Canada women's football team This article is more than 11 months oldBev Priestman considers future as Canada coach amid pay turmoilThis article is more than 11 months oldNews comes amid players’ anger over budget cutsPriestman led Canada to Olympic gold in TokyoThe Olympic gold medal-winning Canada head coach, Bev Priestman, is understood to be considering her future with the national team as the impasse between the players and federation over pay equity issues and budget cuts rumbles on.

Excretion’s greetings: the pooping Christmas caganer figurines of Catalonia Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email The caganer – or pooper – figurine has long been a staple of Christmas in Catalonia, usually placed in a discreet corner of a nativity not far from Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus. The defecating statuettes are believed locally to bring prosperity for the coming year