Essays Archive | Los Angeles Review of Books

All Essays

Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing: Scorsese’s "Wolf of Wall Street" Disappoints
The Wolf of Wall Street is neither the epic we deserve, nor the epic we need.
Timothy SpanglerMar 12, 2014
In Sickness and in Health: How Big Data Watches over You
A science project underway in Iquitos, Peru, reveals all that is promising and terrifying about data collection in the 21st century.
Jessica Camille AguirreMar 12, 2014
“True Detective” Finale
Four takes on the first season
Anne Helen Petersen, Evan Kindley, Lili Loofbourow, Phillip MaciakMar 11, 2014
Cell Phone Diaries
What Emily Post can't tell us: cell phones in the bathroom stall and other conundrums.
Dinah LenneyMar 11, 2014
In on the Big Bang: Why I Love the Queen of Slapstick
Jon Boorstin finds the whole story of American movies in Mabel Normand.
Jon BoorstinMar 11, 2014
"Looking," Season 1
How Should a 'Gay Show' Be?
Scott CohenMar 11, 2014
Iron and Chromium: Five Novels by Norman Spinrad
Alvaro Zinos-AmaroMar 10, 2014
Proust’s Love. From Paris to Los Angeles.
Donatien Grau looks at Marcel Proust’s Parisian legacy and finds his presence among Angelenos.
Donatien GrauMar 10, 2014
- Literary Fiction
Meryl Streep’s Hunger Games
Charles TaylorMar 9, 2014
Two Devils in the City of Angels
Victoria DaileyMar 9, 2014
Sochi As I Vaguely Remember It: A Drunken Travelogue
An experienced Russia traveler gives us a glimpse of the Russian people through a journey to Sochi long before its Olympic facelift.
Mark Lawrence SchradMar 8, 2014
- Travel
“True Detective”: Down the Bayou (Far From Any Road)
Landscape, sacrifice, and American horror
Jacob MikanowskiMar 8, 2014
Wish I Weren’t Here
The pleasures of postcards
Geoff NicholsonMar 6, 2014
"Autobiography: Morrissey": Two Reviews
Kevin Nolan, Simon LeeMar 6, 2014
The Sheikh’s Prize Is Usually White
Romance novels, despite their supposed lack of sophistication, actually undertake a project of revision of stereotypes and fear.
Natalie StoreyMar 5, 2014
Derrida on the Death Penalty
Arne De Boever, Jan MieszkowskiMar 5, 2014