Essays Archive | Los Angeles Review of Books

All Essays

Belle Dame Sans Merci: On Angela Carter
Angela Carter nudges readers — especially women — to look upon the world, however fantastical or frightening it may be, and let it teach us courage, and common sense. And laughter.
Amy WeldonSep 20, 2013
Behind a Blindfold: Notes on a Marathon Reading of Stanisław Lem’s Solaris
A marathon, blindfolded reading of Stanisław Lem’s Solaris organized by Marina Abramović.
J. T. PriceSep 19, 2013
Blood Positive: Recovering Poetry from the AIDS crisis
A handful of poets faced with death sat in a circle. Their poems share the threads, murmurs, and syntax of two crises: the urban crisis and the AIDS crisis.
Sean SingerSep 19, 2013
Les Plesko, 1954 – 2013
David Francis, Joshua John Miller, Julianne Cohen, Lola Willoughby, Mary Rakow, Nancy Spiller, Rita Williams, Rochelle Low, Samantha DunnSep 18, 2013
Armitage in America: Anchoring the Kite
The British poet Simon Armitage has written a book about walking the Pennine Way — Britain’s equivalent to the Appalachian Trail.
Jeffrey KindleySep 17, 2013
In Memory of Albert Murray (May 12, 1916 – August 18, 2013)
Lauren WalshSep 16, 2013
A Moderation Manifesto
Revolutions vs. renaissances
Karol Edward Sołtan Sep 15, 2013
Salinger Betrayed: On Shane Salerno’s "Salinger"
The most unequivocal thing you can say about Shane Salerno’s documentary Salinger is that J.D. Salinger would have hated every single word and frame.
Cornel BoncaSep 15, 2013
What We’ve Lost and Gained: Aaron Sorkin’s Complex Nostalgia
'Newsroom' as jeremiad on the loss of a dominant public discourse
Matthew Brandon WolfsonSep 15, 2013
Destroyed by HUAC: The Dorothy Comingore Story
Dorothy Comingore had a big Hollywood career until HUAC and the bottle brought her down.
Kathleen SharpSep 13, 2013
A Wall of Words: The Tintinnabulations of Legal Fictions
The courtroom spectacle is caught up in good – not always true – stories.
Jess CottonSep 12, 2013
Reflections on The Getty’s “Pacific Standard Time Presents: Modern Architecture in L.A.”
PTSD from PSTP? Architect and writer Joe Day revisits eight of the nine shows from Los Angeles’s recent architecture exhibition bonanza, Pacific Standard Time Presents: Modern Architecture in L.A.
Joe DaySep 12, 2013
Chile’s September 11: Marking the 40th Anniversary of Pinochet
Magdalena Edwards, Óscar ContardoSep 11, 2013
Men of Mayhem, Heirs of Anarchy
Sons of Anarchy's (once promising) examination of radical politics
Diarmuid HesterSep 10, 2013
Winters’s Wild West
The poet of 'See Los Angeles First'
Kenneth FieldsSep 10, 2013
If This Flag Offends You: Dixie Outfitters and the Meaning of Southern Heritage
The Legacy of the Confederate Flag
Alan LevinovitzSep 9, 2013