Archive

French Cigarettes and a Lot of Coffee: On Skye C. Cleary’s “How to Be Authentic”
Graham weighs the existence, and not the essence, of Cleary’s latest book on how to be authentic by Beauvoir’s measure.
Rebecca Brenner GrahamJun 5, 2022
- Philosophy & Religion
The Inhumanity of Work: On Olga Ravn’s “The Employees”
Lauren Nelson evaluates “The Employees,” a novel by Olga Ravn translated by Martin Aitken.
Lauren NelsonJun 4, 2022
- SF
Immunity Against Oblivion: On Avrom Sutzkever’s “From the Vilna Ghetto to Nuremberg: Memoir and Testimony”
Jan Schwarz celebrates the appearance of “From the Vilna Ghetto to Nuremberg: Memoir and Testimony” by Avrom Sutzkever, translated from the Yiddish by Justin Cammy.
Jan SchwarzJun 4, 2022
- Memoir & Essay
What History’s “Bad Gays” Can Tell Us About the Queer Past and Present
Scott W. Stern explores the antiheroes of gay history in Huw Lemmey and Ben Miller’s “Bad Gays: A Homosexual History.”
Scott W. SternJun 3, 2022
- Gender & Sexuality
Elif Batuman’s “Either/Or”
Novelist and New Yorker staff writer Elif Batuman joins Kate Wolf to discuss her latest book, “Either/Or.”

LARB Radio HourJun 3, 2022
You Must Change Your Life: A Conversation with Shane Anderson
Shane Anderson on his new book, “After the Oracle,” an unusual hybrid of memoir, sports journalism, and self-help book.
Rob MadoleJun 3, 2022
- Memoir & Essay
American Flags: A Conversation About a Contested National Icon
The changing, rippling, contentious American flag.
Oana Godeanu-KenworthyJun 2, 2022
- Politics
The Holding Places of Impermanence: On Adalber Salas Hernández’s “The Science of Departures”
Shannon Nakai travels through “The Science of Departures,” a book of poems by Adalber Salas Hernández, translated by Robin Myers.
Shannon NakaiJun 2, 2022
- Poetry
Diana Garvin on the Political Implications of Food
Jun 2, 2022
“A Story Is Always a Question”: On Ali Smith’s “Companion Piece”
Smith’s new novel tests what a “pandemic novel” and a “pandemic author” might be.
Bailey SincoxJun 1, 2022
- Fiction
“I See the City Not as It’s Become”: On Adam Kirsch’s “The Discarded Life”
Leslie Monsour navigates the waters of youth and adulthood in “The Discarded Life,” a book-length poem by Adam Kirsch.
Leslie MonsourJun 1, 2022
- Poetry
Uncle Tall Tale: On “Mo Yan Speaks: Lectures and Speeches by the Nobel Laureate from China”
A gathering of 23 public lectures by the Nobel Prize–winning Chinese storyteller.
Astrid Møller-OlsenMay 31, 2022
- Around the World
An Art of Variety: A Response to Richard Joseph
Antonio J. Ferraro responds to Richard Joseph on the state of contemporary literary criticism, online and elsewhere.
Antonio J. FerraroMay 31, 2022
- Literary Criticism
Curiosity and Compassion: A Conversation with Steven Reigns
The poet discusses his new book, “A Quilt for David,” about the scapegoating of a gay dentist in 1990s Florida.
Lois P. JonesMay 31, 2022
- Gender & Sexuality
“Certainty Is a Daydream”: On Ashley Marie Farmer’s “Dear Damage”
In her new memoir, the poet turns traumatic family tragedy into an elegantly honest dream chronicle.
Andrew TonkovichMay 30, 2022
- Memoir & Essay
The Literatures of Irish America: On Joe Cleary’s World-Systems Scholarship
Matthew Eatough assesses two new books by Joe Cleary, “Modernism, Empire, World Literature” and “The Irish Expatriate Novel in Late Capitalist Globalization.”
Matthew EatoughMay 30, 2022
- Literary Criticism