Essays Archive | Los Angeles Review of Books

All Essays

The Art of Embarrassment and the Embarrassment of Art
Jamie Carragher contemplates the relationship between embarrassment and art.
Jamie CarragherOct 8, 2017
- Art & Architecture
- Cultural Studies
Syria’s Kurdish Contradiction
Bill Weinberg on several recent books about Kurdish autonomy movement.
Bill WeinbergOct 8, 2017
- Around the World
- Politics
Responsibility in Troubling Times: On “Heather Booth: Changing the World”
Kathleen B. Jones speaks to filmmaker Lilly Rivlin about her latest documentary, “Heather Booth: Changing the World.”
Kathleen B. JonesOct 7, 2017
Tight Wires Between Us: On “Difficulties of a Bridegroom” by Ted Hughes
On February 9, 1963, two days before the poet Sylvia Plath killed herself, a radio play about her marriage aired on the BBC.
Joy LanzendorferOct 6, 2017
- Poetry
Neon-Neo Realism
Joseph Pomp on "Good Time" and the new era of Neon-Neo Realism.
Joseph PompOct 6, 2017
- Film
Culture Is Armor: On Adam Gopnik and the Necessity of the Cultural Intellectual
On Adam Gopnik as a public intellectual.
Cody DelistratyOct 5, 2017
To Look or Not to Look: Is that the Question?
Sarah SentillesOct 2, 2017
Regarding the Pain of Trump
What Susan Sontag might say about Trump’s response to the Syrian Civil War.
Rebecca ChaceSep 30, 2017
- Cultural Studies
- Politics
Religious Liberty in a Fractured Republic
Is our public life gripped by misbegotten nostalgias that keep us from engaging new political and social realities?
Matthew D. WrightSep 30, 2017
The Ballad of Jesus Ortiz
California's Poet Laureate, Dana Gioia, presents his poem “The Ballad of Jesus Ortiz,” which is based on the life and death of his great-grandfather.
Dana GioiaSep 30, 2017
- LARB Lit
- Poetry
In Search of Lost Words: The Work of Sky Hopinka
Matthew Jeffrey Abrams discusses the work of experimental filmmaker Sky Hopinka.
Matthew Jeffrey AbramsSep 29, 2017
- Film
Thomas M. Disch Versus the Catholic Church: “The Cardinal Detoxes”
Kevin Power on the late Thomas M. Disch's one-act play.
Kevin PowerSep 27, 2017
- Religion
- SF
The Secret Recipe for Success in the Arts
Alexis Clements on how the rigged game of capital exploits artists.
Alexis ClementsSep 26, 2017
Star Trek: Discovery
Aaron Bady and Sarah Mesle for Dear TV ravenously consume two new hours of Star Trek: Discovery. What's the verdict? The present sucks.
Aaron Bady, Sarah MesleSep 25, 2017
- Dear Television
A Man Walks In and Takes Off His Hat: When the Devil Visits Colombia
Lina María Ferreira Cabeza-VanegasSep 24, 2017
Hiding in Plain View: The Past and Present of Manipulative Advertising
Sixty years after Vance Packard’s “The Hidden Persuaders,” the persuaders are out in the open.
Mark BartholomewSep 24, 2017