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The Long Breath of the World
On László Krasznahorkai’s sentences and what they require of us.
Featured Exhibit
Ciccio
POND SCUM is a 40-panel leporello assembled by Ciccio and published by Seven.
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Science on Ice
Neil Shubin’s stories of polar exploration tell us about the losses ahead.
A Guide to Living in and with Nature
What the ancients can teach us about cultivating a sustainable world.
Toward a Feminism Without Gender
Monique Wittig’s novels ‘The Lesbian Body’ and ‘Across the Acheron’ have just received new editions that reflect the feminist thinker’s ongoing cultural impact.
Dangerous, Decadent Depths
John Knych dissects Hiron Ennes’s ‘The Works of Vermin.’
The Mysterious Eugenics of Aesthetic Taste
In the 11th essay in the Legacies of Eugenics series, Michael Rossi shows how American scientists and artists used their discovery of racial ‘types’ to buttress eugenicist notions of aesthetic taste.
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Have dinner with a literary luminary.
On January 24, 2026, acclaimed journalist and author Susan Orlean will be joined in conversation by music critic and fellow writer Alex Ross at the historic Thomas Mann House. Tickets are on sale now.
Secure your spot.
2026 Publishing Workshop
Launch your career in publishing!
Join an online intensive program featuring workshops in book and magazine publishing and networking opportunities with 60+ speakers from presses, magazines, and literary organizations across the country. Apply by March 15.
Apply by March 15
LARB RADIO HOUR
Susan Orlean's 'Joyride: A Memoir'
Susan Orlean joins the podcast to talk about her new book 'Joyride: A Memoir,' her literary career, and the state of journalism today
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FROM THE FORTHCOMING ISSUE
An Apocalypse for Every Epoch
Emmett Rensin writes on eco-grief, the climate dirge, and one Armenian monk in a new hybrid fiction-cum-essay from LARB Quarterly no. 47, “Security.”
FROM THE FORTHCOMING ISSUE
Filthy Matters
Calvin Gimpelevich writes on the history and politics of public bathrooms, in this essay from LARB Quarterly no. 47, “Security.”
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Made for Strength
Irene Katz Connelly argues for a new approach to witch hysteria via two recent novels, Olga Ravn’s ‘The Wax Child’ and Irene Solà’s ‘I Gave You Eyes and You Looked Toward Darkness.’
A New Cinematic Language for Trans Life
Chris Shields speaks with filmmaker Louise Weard about her ‘Castration Movie’ series.
Susan Orlean's 'Joyride: A Memoir'
Susan Orlean joins the podcast to talk about her new book 'Joyride: A Memoir,' her literary career, and the state of journalism today
In Memory of William Faulkner This Business Will Be Closed From 2:00 to 2:15 P.M. Today
LARB presents an excerpt from Gayle Feldman’s forthcoming biography of Bennett Cerf, the legendary American publisher.
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SILVER SCREEN
Culture Never Recovered
From his rear window, M. Keith Booker reads the new anthology of stories inspired by Alfred Hitchcock, edited by Maxim Jakubowski.
TRAFFIC JAM
Saints of the Middlebrow
Jon Repetti considers Jeremy Rosen’s “Genre Bending: The Plasticity of Form in Contemporary Literary Fiction.”
CITY OF ANGELS
Still Not Geriatric: Archiving a Teenage Riot Grrrl Band
Martin Wong catches up with SoCal punk band Emily’s Sassy Lime upon their reunion for the California Biennial.
THE SOCIAL NETWORK
Your Life Is Not a Plot
Nada Alic speaks with Halle Butler about social satire, writing humor, and her newest novel, “Banal Nightmare.”
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Latest
Hella Hitler
Andrew Holter revisits ‘The California Reich’ 50 years on and considers the legacy of the neo-Nazi documentary.
The Toxic Landscapes of War
Gregg Mitman looks at the bodily damage that soldiers take home in Joshua Howe and Alexander Lemons’s ‘Warbody: A Marine Sniper and the Hidden Violence of Modern Warfare.’
What Remains to Be Said
The L.A. fires, one year later.
Our Ordeal Is Worth It
Mona Fastvold’s ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’ presents a musical American allegory of the Great Awakening that is ‘fundamentally carnal, even if its heroine is decidedly not.’
The Globalization of US Healthcare
Eram Alam’s new book uncovers the ways that immigrant physicians have propped up the American medical system.
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Fault Lines
What our editors can’t stop thinking about, from cultural research and reporting to political commentary and coverage of current events.
Drawing America’s Brutal Imagination
Justin A. Davis writes on Ralph Bakshi’s controversial film “Coonskin” for its 50th anniversary, in a preview of the LARB Quarterly no. 47, “Security.”
Run for the Sun, Little One
Carly Mattox considers recent critiques of imperialist nostalgia via Danny Boyle’s “28 Years Later” and Adam Curtis’s “Shifty.”
Freeing the Library
Aaron Boehmer writes about community libraries and the importance of accessible archival and literary resources in these times.
Racialized Economic Piracy
Joel Edward Goza dives into Calvin Schermerhorn’s new study of American history, tracing a financial pattern of racial exploitation that’s woven into the nation’s fabric.
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Vantage Points
Long-form views on literature, art, and experience from LARB’s online magazine and print Quarterly.
Beginning to See the Light
Rowland Bagnall dives into the early work of Stephen Shore, newly collected by MACK.
A Fierce and Complicated Compassion
Alix Christie considers Susan Straight’s challenging yet crucial portraits of an “overlooked” California.
The Fascist Cinematic Universe
Tim Brinkhof considers Joe Wright’s new Mussolini miniseries as a flawed representation of the rise of fascism in Italy.
No More Heroes
Clara Cuccaro considers the “myth of resistance” in Joachim Trier’s newest film, “Sentimental Value.”
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Short Takes
Brief dispatches from L.A.’s arts and culture scenes. Courtesy of LARB’s local columnists and occasional correspondents.
Hail, Caesar
Friends, Romans, countrymen: Nathan Jefferson lends his ears (and eyes) to the immersive “Julius Caesar” production at Heritage Square Museum.
The Whole Idea of Knowing the Truth
Elizabeth Barton trawls through the newly opened Joan Didion archives at New York Public Library to learn about the making of the author’s first book.
Jackpot!
“Nothing is clearly defined” in Julia Yerger’s art exhibition, which Keith J. Varadi finds to be a big win.
My Date at the Holocaust Ballet
Dorie Chevlen attends “Memoryhouse,” an abstract, cinematic performance that still managed to dance around comparisons to contemporary injustices.
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LARB Radio Hour
Sally Mann’s 'Art Work: On the Creative Life'
We revisit our episode with photographer and writer Sally Mann about her book, "Art Work: On the Creative Life."
Special Show: Jenny Slate and Sarah Manguso
Tales from Two Critics: A.S. Hamrah and Melissa Anderson on the Year in Film
Film critics and authors A.S Hamrah and Melissa Anderson join the podcast to talk about 2025 in film, the Warner Bros. sale, AI use, and more.
Best of 2025
LARB Radio Hour hosts pick their favorite books, movies, TV shows, music, magazines, and scandals from 2025. Listen to hear about Nuzzi, Superman, and more
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The LARB Quarterly
LARB Quarterly, no. 47: Security
Brace yourself, new essays, fiction, poetry, art, and comics are here. Hunker down with the LARB Quarterly no 47: Security, exploring vulnerability, loss, and refuge.
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