Essays Archive | Los Angeles Review of Books

All Essays

On “The New Republic”
David Bell, a contributing writer and editor at “The New Republic” for over 30 years, considers the implications of its unraveling in an increasingly atomized digital age.
David A. BellDec 29, 2014
- Cultural Studies
Descartes, Dick, and the Dog: Pierre Huyghe at LACMA
Farrago of banality.
Victoria DaileyDec 28, 2014
- Art & Architecture
The Terror of Colorado Boulevard: Hate, Homicide, and a Holiday Tradition
Behind the scenes of Pasadena's Rose Parade.
Bonnie JohnsonDec 28, 2014
- Cultural Studies
Song of Saruman
Robert T. Tally Jr. examine's Tolkien's character Saruman in light of the latest, and last, installment of Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies."
Robert T. Tally Jr.Dec 27, 2014
- Film
Repetition and Difference: “Two Days, One Night”
The Dardennes' "Two Days, One Night" is animated by a complex conception of human life as both singular and serial.
Francey RussellDec 26, 2014
- Film
Books in Space: Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar”
“Interstellar” is bookish to a fault.
Wai Chee DimockDec 25, 2014
- Film
In the Shadow of the Wolf: Little Red Riding Hood in the Contemporary World
How has the familiar story of a vulnerable red-caped girl changed — and how has it stayed the same?
Aisha AnwarDec 24, 2014
- Young Adult & Children’s Literature
“Selma” and Saviors
"Unlike most political films, Selma does not celebrate the change-makers at the top of the political ladder. Instead, it is an example of how an oppressed minority, through organization, solidarity, and sacrifice, forced the white man’s hand."
Noah GittellDec 24, 2014
- Film
White Christmas and Black December
The #BlackLivesMatter movement, and the deaths that spurred it, should make all of us who celebrate ask: What does Christmas mean this year? And what should it mean?
Briallen HopperDec 23, 2014
- Cultural Studies
- Politics
Gender, blah, blah, blah
The VIDA count makes obvious the problem; we have to fix it.
Katherine AngelDec 22, 2014
- Gender & Sexuality
A Little Piece of a Life: Tove Jansson’s Fiction for Adults
New from "Around the World"
Madeleine LaRueDec 21, 2014
- Around the World
A Place Called Home?
New from "Around the World"
Stephanos PapadopoulosDec 21, 2014
- Around the World
Schumpeter and Me
Tom Streithorst unravels the myths of modern economics.
Tom StreithorstDec 20, 2014
- Politics
A Dirty Baker’s Dozen: My 13 Favorite Crime Novels of 2014
Woody Haut's favorite crime novels of 2014.
Woody HautDec 19, 2014
- Fiction
- Noir
Name Your Poison: A Brief, Highly Subjective History of Culinary Crime
"Readers will never look at a duck press the same way again."
Katherine Hall PageDec 19, 2014
Sturtevant’s Provincialism: “Sturtevant: Double Trouble” at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (until February 22, 2015)
“Sturtevant: Double Trouble” travels to the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, on March 21, 2015.
Pac PobricDec 18, 2014
- Art & Architecture