Essays Archive | Los Angeles Review of Books

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Real Penguins in Imaginary Apartments
on Andrey Kurkov’s oddball Russian crime fiction.
Anthony OlcottFeb 11, 2012
Life in Storage: Of Capitalism and A&E's "Storage Wars"
On the American culture of accumulation,

and the author's addiction to A&E’s "Storage Wars."
Peggy KamufFeb 4, 2012
The Wages of Narrative
Louis Menand’s 'The Metaphysical Club' and Alex Ross’s 'The Rest is Noise' make intellectual history into page-turners.
John Durham PetersFeb 1, 2012
Crete Spring: An Appreciation for James Hillman (1926–2011)
Louise SteinmanJan 29, 2012
Hell, Hurt, Blood, and Rapture
Noir books by Jake Hinkson, John Rector, Reed Farrel Coleman, Alan Glynn, and Harry Whittington.
Jan 23, 2012
Letter From Detroit
For every abandoned business, store, school, or church in the city, a new one has been built in the suburbs.
Ingrid NortonJan 16, 2012
Love, Boxing, and Hunter S. Thompson, Part 2
I decided to get high.
John KayeJan 15, 2012
Love, Boxing, and Hunter S. Thompson, Part 1
His last words to me as he opened the door and stepped into the hallway were: "Feel free to use any of this in the script."
John KayeJan 15, 2012
Impersonating Ourselves
It's no wonder that we are often confused by impostors, delighted by sock puppets, and relieved — most of us, anyway — that we remain singular.
Matthew SpecktorJan 14, 2012
The Fire This Time: On 9/11 in the Long Term
Reza AslanJan 9, 2012
Mentors: Steven Corbin
A reminiscence of his mentor, writing instructor, and friend.
Mark SarvasJan 7, 2012
Transactions Along the Mississippi Delta
On literary sociality and the romance between William Faulkner and Joan Williams.
Glen David GoldJan 6, 2012
Mentors: James Baldwin
He missed the first class. In fact, he missed the first three.
Matthew SpecktorJan 6, 2012
Mentors: Siddhartha Deb
While a student of his I often felt the tectonic plates of my own opinions and tightly-held ideas loosen or shift.
Morten Høi JensenJan 5, 2012
Mentors: Stanley Cavell
I was inchoate and jelly-like in graduate school (kind of like a slime mold), but Cavell was kind to me anyway.
Sianne NgaiJan 5, 2012
The Writers that Shadow Us
On the ghost of Graham Greene.
Jan 4, 2012