Essays Archive | Los Angeles Review of Books

All Essays

No Fap: A Cultural History of Anti-Masturbation
Aya Labanieh analyzes the history of the anti-masturbation NoFap movement, which has historical roots far beyond contemporary internet culture.
Aya LabaniehNov 1, 2023
- Gender & Sexuality
- History
My Bird Today Promises a Story
In a preview of the new LARB Quarterly, no. 39: “Air,” Dan O’Brien finds symbols of life and faith in the theater.
Dan O’BrienOct 30, 2023
- LARB Lit
- Memoir & Essay
The One-Way Ticket to Barcelona
In a preview of the new LARB Quarterly, no. 39: “Air,” Corina Zappia considers the state of travel for single women.
Corina ZappiaOct 27, 2023
Reading in the Conglomerate Era: Or, Do Small Presses Even Exist?
Hilary Plum situates Dan Sinykin’s “Big Fiction: How Conglomeration Changed the Publishing Industry and American Literature” among the ecosystem of small presses in the literary world.
Hilary PlumOct 24, 2023
- Literary Criticism
The Air We Breathe Is Holy: Exvangelical Indie Rock
In a preview of LARB Quarterly no. 39: “Air,” Matthew Mullins explores exvangelical indie rock and reevaluates his own identity within the American evangelical movement.
Matthew MullinsOct 23, 2023
You Mustn’t Pretend You Didn’t Know: Arundhati Roy on the Condition of India Under Modi
Arundhati Roy accepts the Charles Veillon Foundation’s 45th European Essay Prize for lifetime achievement.
Arundhati RoyOct 21, 2023
Waiting for Barbie
Anne Anlin Cheng recalls her first, foreign Barbie experience.
Anne Anlin ChengOct 20, 2023
- Film
- Gender & Sexuality
Empress Elisabeth and the Archives of Anorexia
In a preview of the new LARB Quarterly, no. 39: “Air,” Meghan Racklin considers the life and imperfectly rendered image of Empress Elisabeth of Austria.
Meghan RacklinOct 20, 2023
Every Detective Film Is a Comedy: On “The Big Lebowski” at 25
Jason Namey takes another look at the Coen brothers’ “The Big Lebowski” for its 25th anniversary.
Jason NameyOct 19, 2023
- Film
- Noir
Prohibition and Hope: The Politics of Jhumpa Lahiri’s Writings
Rani Neutill explores the ways Jhumpa Lahiri’s fiction engages with the legacies of colonialism and the pressures of assimilationism.
Rani NeutillOct 17, 2023
- Fiction
The Hollywood Strikes: How Storytelling Won the Day for Writers
Alessandro Camon discusses the role storytelling played in the success of the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strike in Hollywood.
Alessandro CamonOct 15, 2023
Where Sables Roam: On Vladimir Arsenyev’s “Dersu Uzala” Trilogy
Noah Sparkes writes about Valdimir Arsenyev’s “Dersu Uzala” trilogy.
Noah SparkesOct 15, 2023
- History
State Eyes in the Sky: On the History of Helicopters in Policing
In a preview of the new LARB Quarterly, no. 39: “Air,” Nicholas Shapiro, Kate McInerny, Matyos Kidane, and Jacobo Pereira-Pacheco discuss the effects and racialized nature of police-helicopter monitoring and the noise pollution these machines produce.
Jacobo Pereira-Pacheco, Kate McInerny, Matyos Kidane, Nicholas ShapiroOct 13, 2023
Primal Fears: Revisiting “Gone Baby Gone”
Amidst a new wave of conservative panic about child trafficking, Evan McGarvey revisits Ben Affleck’s “Gone Baby Gone.”
Evan McGarveyOct 13, 2023
- Film
For Promising Young Women: A Smidge of Midge
Eliana Rozinov examines the figure of Midge as a mythical phenomenon, a pregnant doll, and a variation of the “promising young woman” trope.
Eliana RozinovOct 12, 2023
After the Party: A Walking Tour of Manchester with Andy Spinoza
Chandler Dandridge takes a tour of Manchester with Andy Spinoza, author of “Manchester Unspun: Pop, Property, and Power in the Original Modern City.”
Chandler DandridgeOct 10, 2023
- History
- Music