Archive

“A Dreadful Plague in London Was”
What Daniel Defoe’s “A Journal of the Plague Year” can teach us about the COVID-19 pandemic.
Leo BraudyApr 27, 2020
Peter Beard: A Recollection
Janet SternburgApr 27, 2020
Symphonies Silenced, Sonatas Streamed: The State of Classical Music During COVID-19
Melissa Chan considers the state of classical music in the age of coronavirus.
Melissa ChanApr 27, 2020
Fence Jumping: An Interview with Frank Santoro
Brianne Jaquette talks to comics artist Frank Santoro about his latest book, “Pittsburgh.”
Brianne JaquetteApr 26, 2020
- Comics
Leo Tolstoy’s Children’s Stories Will Devastate Your Children and Make You Want to Die
On the bleak tales of Leo Tolstoy's "The Lion and the Puppy: And Other Stories for Children."
John Byron KuhnerApr 26, 2020
- Around the World
- Young Adult & Children’s Literature
The Elderly: Unworthy of Life?
Mike DavisApr 26, 2020
The (Yelling) Mothers of Us All
A new biography of a leading light — and loud voice — of second-wave feminism.
Rachel ShteirApr 26, 2020
From Nation-Builder to (Would-Be) Apple-Killer: Geoffrey Cain's Corporate Biography Samsung Rising
Colin Marshall's latest Korea Blog entry looks at Korea's megacorp through the book "Samsung Rising" by American journalist Geoffrey Cain.
Colin MarshallApr 26, 2020
The Reverberations of Time: A Conversation with Nicole Simek
Nicole Simek discusses the challenges of translating Maryse Condé’s novel “The Belle Créole.”
Jocelyn FrelierApr 25, 2020
- Around the World
- Fiction
Seeing Together: Care, Community, and Connection in Jeff Sharlet’s “This Brilliant Darkness: A Book of Strangers”
Michael Washburn is transformed by his encounter with “This Brilliant Darkness: A Book of Strangers” by Jeff Sharlet.
Michael WashburnApr 25, 2020
- Memoir & Essay
- Nonfiction
Mailer in Miami
Norman Mailer was a pundit of the back rooms who slung observations of how candidates moved through the world.
Matt HansonApr 25, 2020
- Nonfiction
- Politics
Print Matters: On Jennifer Buckley’s “Beyond Text” and Heidi R. Bean’s “Acts of Poetry”
Elizabeth Wiet considers two new books that imagine new ways of using print and text within performance.
Elizabeth WietApr 24, 2020
- Art & Architecture
- Literary Criticism
The Language of Self-Discovery: On Jessica J. Lee’s “Two Trees Make a Forest”
An environmental memoir about Taiwan, family, and language.
Kristen SchottApr 24, 2020
- Around the World
- Memoir & Essay
The Kids Want Communism: A Conversation with Joshua Simon
Joshua Simon talks about his years-long art project that celebrates the archival histories of communism.
Ben RatskoffApr 24, 2020
Real Life Rock Top 10: April 2020
LARB presents the April installment of “Real Life Rock Top 10,” a monthly column by cultural critic Greil Marcus.
Greil MarcusApr 24, 2020
- Music
Digital Trust: Talking to David Shrier
Andy Fitch talks with David Shrier about how to leverage and protect data and his book "Basic Blockchain."
Andy FitchApr 24, 2020