Essays Archive | Los Angeles Review of Books

All Essays

Shadow City: Migrant Workers in Beirut
A culture of indentured servitude is increasingly the norm in Beirut.
Helen MackreathMay 13, 2015
- Around the World
Mad Men, Season 7: "The Milk and Honey Route"
The Choice is Yours
Evan KindleyMay 11, 2015
- Dear Television
Writing About Not Writing
“The literary conceit I’m referring to could be thought of as an X-ray, or a negative, of the book-within-a-book device.”
Ruth MargalitMay 11, 2015
- Fiction
- Literary Criticism
“Early Warning” by Jane Smiley
This second installment in Jane Smiley’s best-selling trilogy follows the Langdon family as they navigate the political and physical landscapes of midcentury America, bringing to the surface the challenges and rewards of family even in the most turbulent of times. Check out our Summer 2015 pick for the LARB Book Club: “Early Warning” by Jane Smiley.
May 11, 2015
In Defense of Margins
A garbage sorter in Mumbai's Annawadi slum can know capitalism inside out, even though he is placed at the margins of capitalism.
May 9, 2015
Writing While Muslim: The Freedom to Be Offended
Why am I told that by opposing the free speech award, I fail to prove myself as the "good" Muslim, vocally secular and eager to clap hard for Charlie Hebdo?
Rafia ZakariaMay 8, 2015
- Politics
Questions of Genius: On “Salt of the Earth”
"Salt of the Earth," the new film about the great photographer Sebastião Salgado, raises uncomfortable questions about men, women, and that frightful designation "genius."
Ilana SichelMay 8, 2015
- Film
Feminus Ex Machina
What is the EQ of an AI? The question is at the heart of veteran screenwriter Alex Garland's directorial debut "Ex Machina."
Aro Velmet, Marysia JonssonMay 8, 2015
- Film
- SF
Galadriel, Witch-Queen of Lórien
"Apart from the hobbits themselves, Galadriel probably represents the most supremely "good" character in The Lord of the Rings."
Robert T. Tally Jr.May 7, 2015
- Film
- SF
The Mighty Mezz, Marijuana, and the Beat Generation
Mezz Mezzrow fostered a cannabis counterculture that got the Beat Generation writing.
Loren GlassMay 7, 2015
- Literary Criticism
A Citizen of the World: Orson Welles at 100
On the occasion of Orson Welles’s 100th birthday, an excerpt from a new biography by F.X. Feeney.
F.X. FeeneyMay 6, 2015
- Biography & Autobiography
- Film
Mad Men, Season 7: "Lost Horizon"
Age of Olson
Phillip MaciakMay 5, 2015
- Dear Television
Game of Thrones: Season 5, "Sons of the Harpy"
When Bad Things Happen to Good People
Sarah MesleMay 4, 2015
- Dear Television
“A Rather Pathetic Play”: On Public Shaming and the Cult of Censorship
One need not be consumed with the lofty and the sublime, nor the lowly and the savage, to take a few lessons from Wilde on public shaming.
Stuart WhatleyMay 4, 2015
- Politics
Queer Blood
"In Cold Blood" is a classic of queer literature, a book that can continue to teach us about the closet and the damage done.
Ned Stuckey-FrenchMay 4, 2015
- Gender & Sexuality
- Nonfiction
On “Clouds of Sils Maria”
Contributor Caitlin Woolsey reviews Olivier Assayas's film "Clouds of Sils Maria."
Caitlin WoolseyMay 3, 2015
- Film