Archive

Deep Is the Well: On Mark Jenkin’s “Enys Men” and a Cinema of Absence
Thomas M. Puhr discusses absence in cinema, specifically art horror, through a philosophical lens and Mark Jenkin’s film “Enys Men.”
Thomas M. PuhrJul 20, 2023
- Film
Feeling Solarpunk: On Becky Chambers’s Monk and Robot Series
Kurt David reviews Becky Chambers’s Monk and Robot series, “A Prayer for the Crown-Shy” and “A Psalm for the Wild-Built.”
Kurt DavidJul 20, 2023
- Politics
- SF
Machine Voice: Programmer Fiction
Many decades before generative AI, the writer J. M. Coetzee actively engaged with machine voices, says Andrew Dean, and also grappled with the perils of “automatism,” as he called it, the tendency of language to reproduce itself.
Andrew DeanJul 19, 2023
- Fiction
- Science & Technology
Eating to Live: On Yiyun Li’s “The Book of Goose,” Lu Min’s “Dinner for Six,” and Xiaolu Guo’s “A Lover’s Discourse”
Anjum Hasan reviews three recent novels relating to China: Yiyun Li’s “The Book of Goose,” Lu Min’s “Dinner for Six,” and Xiaolu Guo’s “A Lover’s Discourse.”
Anjum HasanJul 19, 2023
- Fiction
A Lifetime Drama of Escape: On M. John Harrison’s “Wish I Was Here”
Roger Luckhurst reviews M. John Harrison’s “Wish I Was Here: An Anti-Memoir.”
Roger LuckhurstJul 18, 2023
- Memoir & Essay
- SF
Transcending the Materialistic Illusion: On Andy Karr’s “Into the Mirror”
Ken McLeod reviews Andy Karr’s “Into the Mirror: A Buddhist Journey Through Mind, Matter, and the Nature of Reality.”
Ken McLeodJul 18, 2023
- Religion
Heady Politics in the Ton: On Shondaland’s “Queen Charlotte”
Leigh-Michil George reviews Shondaland’s “Queen Charlotte,” and asks about the nature of the game being played.
Leigh-Michil GeorgeJul 17, 2023
- Television
Close Ranks: On Three New Books Exploring African Americans, Patriotism, and the US Armed Forces
Randal Maurice Jelks reviews three books about the African American experience in war: Beth Bailey’s “An Army Afire: How the US Army Confronted Its Racial Crisis in the Vietnam Era,” Matthew F. Delmont’s “Half American: The Epic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad,“ and Chad L. Williams’s “The Wounded World: W. E. B. Du Bois and the First World War.”
Randal Maurice JelksJul 17, 2023
- History
Life, Disturbed: On Nicole Flattery’s “Nothing Special”
Grace Linden reviews Nicole Flattery’s “Nothing Special.”
Grace LindenJul 16, 2023
The Word-Historical Moment in Contemporary Poetry: On Walter Ancarrow’s “Etymologies”
Camille Ralphs explores the use of etymology in contempory poetry, especially through the lens of Walter Ancarrow’s “Etymologies.”
Camille RalphsJul 16, 2023
- Poetry
L.A. and the Birth of Car Culture: On Darryl Holter and Stephen Gee’s “Driving Force”
Gary Cross reviews Darryl Holter and Stephen Gee’s “Driving Force: Automobiles and the New American City, 1900–1930.”
Gary CrossJul 15, 2023
- History
- Science & Technology
A Medieval Age of Disruption: On Nicholas Morton’s “The Mongol Storm”
Nile Green reviews Nicholas Morton’s “The Mongol Storm: Making and Breaking Empires in the Medieval Near East.”
Nile GreenJul 15, 2023
- History
- Religion
John Yau’s “Please Wait By the Coatroom: Reconsidering Race and Identity in American Art”
The poet and longtime art critic John Yau joins Kate Wolf and Eric Newman to speak about his latest collection of criticism, “Please Wait By the Coatroom: Reconsidering Race and Identity in American Art.”
LARB Radio HourJul 14, 2023
The Humanities Are Worth Fighting For
Ignacio M. Sánchez Prado explains why humanities scholars need to articulate a more robust defense of their disciplines.
Ignacio M. Sánchez PradoJul 14, 2023
- Education
Justice in the Age of Abolition: On Joanna Schwartz’s “Shielded”
Hector Villagra reviews Joanna Schwartz’s “Shielded: How the Police Became Untouchable.”
Hector VillagraJul 14, 2023
Two Roads: A Review-in-Dialogue of Will Harris’s “Brother Poem” and Evie Shockley’s “Suddenly We”
Victoria Chang and Dean Rader review Will Harris’s “Brother Poem” and Evie Shockley’s “Suddenly We.”
Dean Rader, Victoria ChangJul 13, 2023
- Poetry
- Two Roads: Poetry Reviews in Dialogue