Essays Archive | Los Angeles Review of Books

All Essays

The Booby-Trapped Life of Rita Johnson
Matt WeinstockAug 13, 2013
Negotiating the Dangerous Compromise: Curtis Harrington’s “Nice Guys Don’t Work in Hollywood”
"The thrust of the film,"Harrington says, "is to present the artist as an alchemist who, through her creative work, becomes herself transmuted into gold."
Nathaniel BellAug 13, 2013
- Film
On Being Off: The Case of Amanda Knox
There are, by now, several accounts of Amanda Knox’s story.
Tom DibbleeAug 12, 2013
On Reza Aslan’s “Zealot”: A Symposium
Reza Aslan's "Zealot": A Symposium
Andrei Codrescu, Costica Bradatan, Kevin Hart, Phillip MaciakAug 11, 2013
Walter White’s Heart of Darkness
Does any space remain for moral judgment?
Andrew LanhamAug 11, 2013
Ebooks v. Lattes
What would George Orwell choose: ebooks or lattes?
Kaya GençAug 10, 2013
Remembering Orson Welles
Steve WassermanAug 9, 2013
In Memory of Mahmoud Darwish (1941-2008)
The Los Angeles Review of Books marks the fifth anniversary of the death of Mahmoud Darwish, one of the great poets of Palestine, with "Canvas on the Wall,” originally published in 1969 when Darwish was 28 years old.
Fady JoudahAug 7, 2013
Just Us Girls
On John Fawcett's 2001 teen werewolf film 'Ginger Snaps'
Alice BolinAug 6, 2013
Analog Warmth: On Computer Chess
Almost everything worth paying attention to these days, and just as much that’s worth ignoring, represents the collaboration between a human being and a computer.
Akiva GottliebAug 5, 2013
The Brutalist: A Gil Brewer Retrospective
It has not been easy for crime fiction to find a place in the great Canon of Literature Worth Everyone’s Time and Mental Capacity, but it doesn’t help that crime fiction has never entirely sorted out its own canon. If it did, Gil Brewer would definitely be on the list.
Chris MorganAug 4, 2013
Are The Fools in Town Still On Our Side?: A Ross Thomas Retrospective
Why has Ross Thomas fallen out of favor?
Woody HautAug 2, 2013
Where the Wonders Never Cease: Hope and Consequences in Atlantic City
Atlantic City, gambling, and murder.
Chris PomorskiAug 1, 2013
The Poems (We Think) We Know: “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by Langston Hughes
On 'The Negro Speaks of Rivers' by Langston Hughes
Alexandra SocaridesAug 1, 2013
- Poetry
What Fourth Wall?
On "Sleep No More," Punchdrunk theater company's reimagining of "Macbeth"
Tara Isabella BurtonJul 31, 2013
Re-re-reading Gore Vidal: A First Anniversary Requiem
A remembrance of what he really stood for.
Stan PerskyJul 31, 2013
- Memoir & Essay