Two months later he bent himself to the study of drawing and painting as others would bend to the plough.

ECONOMIST: The story of Vincent van Gogh

Like a middle-distance athlete on a bend, anyone who wants to run something in his 40s needs to position himself for supremacy a decade earlier.

ECONOMIST: Bagehot

Their troubles start when Caroline, thinking that Toby needs a father, marries a small-town clod named Dwight (Robert De Niro), who proves to be a bully the sort of guy who fancies himself king of the castle and takes pleasure in making his subjects bend to his will.

NEWYORKER: This Boy��s Life