Essays Archive | Los Angeles Review of Books

All Essays

Dancing with Dictators
In Imelda Marcos's tawdry discotheque.
Gina ApostolDec 2, 2014
- Around the World
- Music
“Get Carter,” Again
The story of a noir icon.
Andrew NetteDec 1, 2014
- Film
On Convention
How by means of convention do we convey a more than conventional experience?
Alan ShapiroDec 1, 2014
- Poetry
All Trenchcoat and Cigarette and Arrogance: "Hellblazer," "Constantine," and Noir
After 26 years of life in comics, John Constantine has transitioned to the small screen.
Lars Garvey Laing-PetersonNov 26, 2014
- Noir
- Television
After the Decision: Ferguson and the Cycle of Trauma
Emmett RensinNov 26, 2014
Every Which Way but Regulated: The “Free Market” Trucking Industry
No longer home to the open-road outlaws and concrete cowboys of the ’70s, becoming a trucker is now the equivalent of operating a sweatshop on wheels thanks to deregulation.
Llewellyn Hinkes-JonesNov 25, 2014
- Politics
Heroism in the Age of Guerilla Warfare
Grant Wiedenfeld and Masha Shpolberg on David Ayer’s war drama “Fury.”
Grant Wiedenfeld, Masha ShpolbergNov 25, 2014
- Film
The Real Mr. Difficult, or Why Cthulhu Threatens to Destroy the Canon, Self-Interested Literary Essayists, and the Universe Itself. Finally.
Nick MamatasNov 24, 2014
- SF
Why Do We Keep Having the Same Debates About Pop Songs?
Formats: the Least Understood, Most Essential Reason We Hear Some Music and Not Others
Eric WeisbardNov 24, 2014
- Music
Over Here, over Here: Books on World War I Everywhere
2014 saw a bumper crop in World War I commemorations.
Robert ZaretskyNov 23, 2014
- History
We Need To Talk About Tyrion: How HBO Failed George R. R. Martin’s Iconic Character
Ilana TeitelbaumNov 21, 2014
- SF
Hong Kong Visions
"I'm used to Hong Kong streets being noisy; instead it was eerily silent."
Jeffrey WasserstromNov 21, 2014
At Home with Syrian Refugees and Their Hosts
New from "Around the World"
Helen MackreathNov 20, 2014
- Around the World
Echo of Thunder: Earthquakes Swarm and Another Wild Horse Herd Is Disappeared
Wild mustangs are disappearing at an alarming rate.
Deanne StillmanNov 19, 2014
- Memoir & Essay
- Nonfiction
The Gospel of Paul
"Vintage Ingram: even at his own book launch, he could not resist promoting someone else’s."
Ariel L. LewitonNov 18, 2014
- Nonfiction
“I Don’t Want to See That”: Ethics and Exploitation in “The Comeback” and “Nathan For You”
Nathan For You and The Comeback are darkly comic visions of Hollywood. Both shows parody reality TV while giving their audiences a good, hard look at how the reality sausage is made.
Lara ZarumNov 17, 2014
- Television