Essays Archive | Los Angeles Review of Books

All Essays

How to Be Together: On Andrew Haigh’s “45 Years”
"45 Years" shows the difficulty of being present with someone you know.
Francey RussellDec 23, 2015
- Film
Acts of Will: Art, AIDS, America
"Art, AIDS, America" at the Tacoma Art Museum, October 3, 2015 to January 10, 2016
Elizabeth PenceDec 23, 2015
- Art & Architecture
Syria and Surrealism
Wishful thinking is the essence of Barack Obama’s Syria policy.
Muhammad Idrees AhmadDec 22, 2015
- Politics
The Politics Behind the Original “Star Wars”
The Vietnam War was one of many influences on George Lucas as he created his landmark space epic.
Benjamin HufbauerDec 21, 2015
- Film
- Politics
Divine Wisdom: Polyester and the Return of Trash Cinema
Polyester, a 1981 "Odorama" film, demythologizes the movie theater setting by deranging its typical absorptive address.
Alex WeintraubDec 21, 2015
- Film
Just Subtract Water: The Los Angeles River and a Robert Moses with the Soul of a Jane Jacobs
A reinvented Los Angeles River could act as both an urban spine and civic plaza, organizing and linking the communities it crosses.
Joseph GiovanniniDec 18, 2015
- Art & Architecture
Bloody Victoriana: On Crimson Peak
Marysia Jonsson and Aro Velmet review "Crimson Peak."
Aro Velmet, Marysia JonssonDec 18, 2015
- Film
"Fargo," Season 2: One Hour Ahead of the Posse
Jacob Mikanowski on the Coen Brothers and FX's Fargo
Jacob MikanowskiDec 17, 2015
- Television
Ancient Iraqi Stories, Retold
On musician Amir ElSaffar and the lost art of the maqam
Simon Davis-CohenDec 17, 2015
- Music
What Some of Our Most Read Essays of 2015 Say About You
Dec 16, 2015
Marginalia and Its Disruptions
If the book is an endangered species, then so are its margins.
S. Brent PlateDec 16, 2015
- Nonfiction
The End of Tomorrow
On the poem "Long Live Silence" by Meena Kandasamy.
Manash Firaq BhattacharjeeDec 16, 2015
- Poetry
History’s Dick Jokes: On Melville and Hawthorne
The issue, then, is whether serious scholars writing about famous authors — Melville and Hawthorne — can reasonably deign to take dick jokes as evidence.
Jordan Alexander SteinDec 15, 2015
- Gender & Sexuality
- Literary Criticism
Dr. Ben Carson, Thug Life, and Malcolm X
Dr. Ben Carson just ain’t the phenomenon he was a few weeks ago.
Keenan NorrisDec 15, 2015
- Politics
An Urban History: The Influence of Street Gangs on Contemporary Art
The influence of street gang culture on art in Los Angeles has been systematically underrepresented by academia and art history.
Rodrigo Ribera d’EbreDec 14, 2015
- Art & Architecture
Of Militarization and Miniskirts: Sovereignty and Sexuality in Urban Uganda
How do we make sense of the ways in which Ugandan women's bodies and nonconforming sexualities are subject to violence and even death?
Anneeth Kaur HundleDec 14, 2015
- Around the World
- Gender & Sexuality