Essays Archive | Los Angeles Review of Books

All Essays

“What the earth shall yield”: The Syrian War, Seed banks, and the Coming Apocalypse
Maud DoyleDec 28, 2019
Alexandrian Melodies
Gretchen McCullough muses on the life and literature of Alexandria.
Gretchen McCulloughDec 28, 2019
- Around the World
Lessons From a Sequoia Grove
Carolina De RobertisDec 27, 2019
Real Life Rock Top 10: December 2019
LARB presents the December installment of “Real Life Rock Top 10,” a monthly column by cultural critic Greil Marcus.
Greil MarcusDec 27, 2019
Katherine Mansfield: The Polish Connection
Gerri Kimber and Magda Heydel reconstruct Katherine Mansfield’s Polish connection.
Gerri Kimber, Magda HeydelDec 25, 2019
The Way They Move
Jean Comandon's 1909 "Spirochaeta Pallida (Agent de la Syphilis)" brought together the history of science and technology, sex and entertainment.
Sonia Shechet EpsteinDec 25, 2019
The Catastrophe
Amy Leach on the Great Catastrophe that created the world...
Amy LeachDec 24, 2019
The Vital Relation: What Vivian Gornick Got Right About the History of American Communism
Lana Dee Povitz considers Vivian Gornick and her relation to midcentury American communism.
Lana Dee PovitzDec 24, 2019
- History
- Politics
Dostoyevsky Misprisioned: “The House of the Dead” and American Prison Literature
Ilya Vinitsky follows a spurious Dostoyevsky quote into the American house of the dead.
Ilya VinitskyDec 23, 2019
A Queer Reading List from LGBTQ-Identified Authors at the PDX Book Festival
Sarah Nielson breaks down some of the discussions going on among LGBTQ writers at the PDX Book Festival in November, as well as some recommendations.
Sarah NeilsonDec 22, 2019
- Gender & Sexuality
The Defiant Muse
Alice Blackhurst looks at "Portrait of a Lady on Fire," the latest film from Céline Sciamma.
Alice BlackhurstDec 22, 2019
Lost in Libya: A Refugee’s Story of Captivity and Escape
A Somalian refugee’s story of hardship, captivity, and endurance in Libya, as shared with Human Rights Watch.
John ThorneDec 21, 2019
Southern Discomfort: Erasing the Real Author of “Easy Rider”
With movie credits, what you see is not always what you get.
Peter L. WinklerDec 20, 2019
- Film
Hong Kong’s Tears of Anger: How a Democracy Movement Radicalized
China-based writer Alec Ash recounts his experience shadowing Hong Kong protester Mo Ming in the heat of this year’s riots.
Alec AshDec 20, 2019
Meme Formalism
Michael Dango on Twitter formalists.
Michael DangoDec 18, 2019
- Literary Criticism
Remembering Scott Timberg
Los Angeles lost a beloved local writer and his friends remember him.
Alissa Quart, Andy Hermann, Bill Holdship, Charles McNulty, Dana Gioia, Dean Kuipers, Jeff Turrentine, Joe Donnelly, Lynell George, Richard Thompson, Robert George, Stanton Hall, Steve Wasserman, Ted Gioia, Tim Appelo, Tom Zoellner, Tony Ortega, Willis Peter BilderbackDec 16, 2019