Essays Archive | Los Angeles Review of Books

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Books That Made Us: James and The Giant Peach
May 31, 2012
Two Poems by Walt Whitman Set to Music.
May 31, 2012
Marilynne Robinson and the Miraculous Privilege of Existence
"For Robinson, America has declined because of pervasive and corrosive ideologies that ascribe human motivation solely to self-interest."
Albert Wu, Michelle KuoMay 22, 2012
- Fiction
Whither Holmes?
Each age gets the Sherlock Holmes it deserves.
Nicholas MeyerMay 21, 2012
The Fifty Days of the Hotel Madrid
Aaron ShulmanMay 19, 2012
Farewell to Novels
"We all write to understand ourselves and to be understood by others... Or, of course, to be misunderstood."
David R. SlavittMay 19, 2012
Krazy Kriticism: The Tics of the Trade
"The problem with Krazy Kat is the same as its genius: It cannot be consumed quickly or easily."
Sarah BoxerMay 16, 2012
- Comics
Portrait of a Press: Wave Books
"If you're getting the sense that Wave has a different idea of what constitutes a 'book' than other publishers, you're on to something."
Broc RossellMay 15, 2012
Envy, or, The Last Infirmity
"To become the person who wrote that prose, that poetry, would mean that I had, at long last, truly become myself."
Sven BirkertsMay 14, 2012
The Education of a Vietnamese American Writer
"I stole home and robbed my parents of their American Dream."
Andrew Lam, Mariam LamMay 12, 2012
- Education
Digital Democracy: Inside the French Presidential Elections
"On May 6th, a new breed of digital nightingale chirped all night, their echoes sketching a vast and cozy nest all over France."
Cécile AlduyMay 11, 2012
Remembering Maurice Sendak
Dallas Clayton, Howard A. Rodman, Michael TolkinMay 10, 2012
Strawberries on Life Support
The alien can be found within us; for proof, we need look no further than the colonies of bacteria proliferating in the crook of the human elbow.
Antónia Szabari, Natania MeekerMay 9, 2012
A Grosser Power: A Contrarian Look at The Hunger Games
The only way The Hunger Games works as art is if it shows ordinary people being entertained by death. Then it forces the audience to look at itself.
Ned VizziniMay 8, 2012
Discoveries: Tom Bissell, April Bernard, James Franco, John Green, Sarah Manguso
On 'Magic Hours,' 'Miss Fuller,' 'The Dangerous Book Four Boys,' 'The Fault of Our Stars,' and 'The Guardians.'
Susan Salter ReynoldsMay 6, 2012
- Young Adult & Children’s Literature
The France of Yes and the France of No: Sunday's Presidential Elections
On Sunday, French voters will go to the polls to decide whether Sarkozy, the incumbent, or François Hollande, the poll favorite, will be president.
Judah GrunsteinMay 4, 2012