The Government's under-fire scheme to get unemployed people back into jobs by having them work without pay suffered another blow after Poundland became the latest firm to withdraw and demand that ministers rethink the programme.

Slice them where you will, any collection of psychoanalysts is as mad as a parliament. Novelty beards, whirling eyes, twitches, deranged clothing, tics, jitters and habits you wouldn't want to go into. But Wilhelm Reich (1897-1957) was the maddest of the lot. His mainspring theory was that all human ills stemmed from not enough orgasms, and, in particular, not enough proper orgasms, which he plotted on graphs from foreplay to the molten afterglow of WH Auden's "Lullaby" (1940): "Soul and body have no bounds:/ To lovers as they lie upon/ Her tolerant enchanted slope/ In their ordinary swoon."

Literature

'My Father's Fortune' by Michael Frayn, Faber & Faber, £15.99

Winner of last week's PEN prize, Michael Frayn's atmospheric memoir traces his family lineage, from his grandparents through to his father, a builders' commercial traveller and perennial odd one out. Rich in domestic detail, the work is beautifully crafted and elegantly written.

Ex-Wales player survives crevasses, frostbite and avalanches to complete Grand Slam of seven summits and 'three poles' in record time. He tells Matt Lloyd what he learnt along the way

What does a rugby player do when his career comes to a premature end at the age of 31 because of injury? Sit and sulk? Open a pub?

A new funding system for end-of-life care would save millions of pounds and focus on individual patient needs, according to a Government-ordered review.

Ann Patchett won huge acclaim for her bestselling novel 'Bel Canto', set in South America. She returns there in her new novel. Arifa Akbar talks to her about the rainforest and everlasting fertility

<i>The IoS</i> debates voting systems with bunting and cupcakes

Julia Styles was a nurse from the valleys of South Wales.

It is rare for a final table to give such an accurate guide to performance the following season as was the case over the course of 2010. West Ham, Wigan and Wolves, the three clubs closest to relegation last May, have spent much of this season in the bottom three, while the same five teams who finished at the top have been there again. Our overall League table for 2010 therefore has a familiar look to it. Manchester United have 80 points, Chelsea 75, Arsenal and Manchester City 70 and Tottenham 66. West Ham's full haul from the 12 months was a mere seven wins and 34 points, behind Wigan, Wolves and the underachieving Birmingham, all on 37, then Fulham with 38. Clubs promoted from the Championship played three or four more games, which gave Newcastle 73 points at an average of 1.78 per game, fractionally less than Spurs. Unexpectedly, the biggest falling away compared to the second half of last season was Everton's, from 39 points with only two defeats between January and May, to 22 and only four wins this season. The relegated teams, Burnley, Hull and Portsmouth, have all sat around halfway in the Championship this season and are bunched together above the bottom five in our table.

Terror tale that's worth investigating