Essays Archive | Los Angeles Review of Books

All Essays

On the New Literary Tourism
Why do writers chase down dead writers?
Geoff BendeckFeb 14, 2015
- Memoir & Essay
- Travel
LARB Radio Hour: Episode 2
Tom Lutz, Laurie Winer, and Seth Greenland talk about literature, arts and politics, along with interviews and critiques from today's leading writers.
LARB AVFeb 13, 2015
“The Art of Stillness” by Pico Iyer
In an age of constant movement and hyper-connection, this inspiring read explores the richness found in stillness. Check out our Spring 2015 pick for the LARB Book Club: “The Art of Stillness: Adventrues in Going Nowhere” by Pico Iyer.
Feb 12, 2015
The Too Small House: Lola Ridge and I
Seduced by biography: How Lola Ridge became my obsession.
Terese SvobodaFeb 12, 2015
- Poetry
Incest’s History
Brian ConnollyFeb 11, 2015
- Cultural Studies
Now and Then and Now Again: Pierre Huyghe at LACMA
Peter Huyghe’s show at LACMA is closing.
Annie BuckleyFeb 10, 2015
- Art & Architecture
Where the Past Is Always in the Present Tense
The continuing malaise, 70 years later.
Richard GolsanFeb 10, 2015
- History
- Nonfiction
Parenthood's End: On Television's Children
Phillip MaciakFeb 10, 2015
- Dear Television
LARB Radio Hour: Episode 1
Tom Lutz, Laurie Winer, and Seth Greenland talk about literature, arts and politics, along with interviews and critiques from today's leading writers.
LARB AVFeb 9, 2015
Messing with Maps: Walking David Foster Wallace’s Boston
Bill Lattanzi explores "Infinite Jest" through the geography of David Foster Wallace's Boston.
Bill LattanziFeb 6, 2015
- Fiction
What Is an @uthor?
It’s clear that our media today capture and contain authorial presence with unprecedented levels of abundance. But the total recall and total information awareness that characterize these interactions are further complicated by the focalizing powers of hashtags, filters, and notifications."
Matthew KirschenbaumFeb 6, 2015
- Literary Criticism
- Science & Technology
The Trees, The Trees
“Entering the town of Twin Peaks. Five miles south of the Canadian border, 12 miles west of the state line. I have never seen so many trees in my life."
Nathan HuffstutterFeb 6, 2015
- Television
“You understand it to the point that it almost tears you to pieces”: Growing Up with Mary Gaitskill
As a teenager, Victoria Beale was drawn to Mary Gaitskill’s offbeat characters and virtuostic style; now rereading Gaitskill at twenty-five, Beale finds emotional complexity, exquisite precision, and compassion.
Victoria BealeFeb 3, 2015
- Fiction
Mystical Assassinations
Macbeth is the most political of Shakespeare’s heroes because he kills his king not out of hatred, envy, or even ambition, but to gain power for its own sake. He pursues this abstract aim like a somnambulist, following the logic of politics, in its purest form, to a tragic end.
Faisal DevjiFeb 2, 2015
- Religion
An Anna Is an Anna Is an Anna
Translators of Anna Karenina are wonderful — except for their annoying habit of denigrating the work of earlier ones.
Bob BlaisdellFeb 2, 2015
- Fiction
Against Common Sense
Rei Terada’s "Looking Away" has given us a grammar for the feeling of wanting to escape from something unfixable.
Michael W. CluneFeb 1, 2015