The ObserverBiography books This article is more than 14 years oldNow it's the husband's turn to tell all in battle of the ex-filesThis article is more than 14 years oldAs his former wife's bestselling book becomes a film, Michael Cooper adds his own tale to the mixThe book Eat, Pray, Love has been a publishing sensation. Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir of her search for post-divorce happiness by eating, meditating and romancing her way around the world has sold millions of copies and is to be made into a film starring Julia Roberts.

Carol Rumens's poem of the weekPoetryWith its Christian phraseology and powerful imagery, this 1862 verse is likely a response to a death in the American civil war After Great Pain … After great pain, a formal feeling comes – The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs – The stiff Heart questions ‘was it He, that bore,’ And ‘Yesterday, or Centuries before’? The Feet, mechanical, go round – A Wooden way Of Ground, or Air, or Ought –

Immature cheddar. Photograph: Oleksiy Maksymenko/Getty Images/All Canada PhotosImmature cheddar. Photograph: Oleksiy Maksymenko/Getty Images/All Canada PhotosPass notesInternetThe latest internet meme involves a significant waste of cheese – and may not be entirely welcomed by the world’s baby community Name: The cheese challenge. Age: Five days. Appearance: Cute, then shocking, then maybe funny, maybe disgraceful, probably not a crime. Is this one of those internet memes that everyone gets obsessed with for a while, then completely forgets about?

Between camp and uncanny … Clare Louise Connolly as Regan and Peter Bowles as Father Merrin in The Exorcist. Photograph: Pamela RaithBetween camp and uncanny … Clare Louise Connolly as Regan and Peter Bowles as Father Merrin in The Exorcist. Photograph: Pamela RaithTheatreReviewPhoenix theatre, London This stage version of the classic movie deploys blackouts, special effects and the voice of Ian McKellen to do the devil’s work, but possesses no fearful thrills

The ObserverGenderWhen it comes to longevity, surviving illness and coping with trauma, one gender comes out on top. Angela Saini meets the scientists working out why Four years ago, completely spent, blood transfused into me in a frantic effort to allow me to walk, I lay on a hospital bed having given birth the day before. To the joy of my family, I had brought them a son. Blue balloons foretold a man in the making.