Reviews Archive | Los Angeles Review of Books

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“Marlowe Would Be Proud”: On “The Annotated Big Sleep”
Geoff Nicholson wanders the mean streets with Raymond Chandler’s “The Annotated Big Sleep” for a Baedeker.
Geoff NicholsonOct 11, 2018
- Noir
The Motion of the Pestle
Liesl Schwabe reviews Gendun Chopel's "The Passion Book: A Tibetan Guide to Love & Sex."
Liesl SchwabeOct 11, 2018
The Great Red North
Gabriel Winant considers Barry Eidlin’s answer to the perennial question: why has leftism fared better in Canada?
Gabriel WinantOct 10, 2018
Sexual Abuse and Critical Abuse: On Christian Kracht’s “The Dead”
Jan Wilm considers Christian Kracht's latest novel to be translated into English as well as how his critics misjudge his works.
Jan WilmOct 10, 2018
- Around the World
- Fiction
History for Sale: On Paige Williams’s “The Dinosaur Artist: Obsession, Betrayal, and the Quest for Earth’s Ultimate Trophy”
Lydia Pyne digs into “The Dinosaur Artist: Obsession, Betrayal, and the Quest for Earth’s Ultimate Trophy” by Paige Williams.
Lydia PyneOct 10, 2018
- History
- Science & Technology
The Intense Atmospheres of Language: Cristina Rivera Garza’s “The Taiga Syndrome”
The mystery that Rivera Garza’s detective confronts is framed by primordial fear, a horror that can't be accounted for even by the most radical fairy tales.
Ignacio M. Sánchez PradoOct 9, 2018
- Around the World
- Fiction
The Rock That Breaks and Breaks
A new book about the fracking boom hits close to home.
Erika HowsareOct 9, 2018
- Nonfiction
- Politics
It Me
Scott Selisker reviews Merve Emre’s “The Personality Brokers.”
Scott SeliskerOct 8, 2018
- Cultural Studies
- History
More Than Son of “Jesus’ Son”: On Nico Walker’s “Cherry”
A prison novel written by a convicted bank robber delivers on more than the author’s backstory.
Joe DonnellyOct 8, 2018
- Fiction
Does Capitalism Make Good Compost?: “Familiar Things,” Hwang Sok-yong’s Novel of Waste and Reclamation
A searing meditation on the cult of materialism, "Familiar Things" is a beautiful and almost uplifting parable about recovering things wantonly discarded.
Fionn MallonOct 7, 2018
- Around the World
- Fiction
Translation Without Theory
What is the best method for translation? V. Joshua Adams looks to Mark Polizzotti's "Sympathy for the Traitor" to find out.
V. Joshua AdamsOct 7, 2018
- Literary Criticism
- Memoir & Essay
Drugs ’R’ Us: Opioid Markets After the Jobs Disappear
Why are we drugging ourselves to death?
Philip AlcabesOct 6, 2018
- Science & Technology
Chicano Rock ’n’ Roll Confidential y Mucho Más!
A memoir by the leader of Ruben And the Jets.
Kurt C. OrganistaOct 5, 2018
- Memoir & Essay
- Music
The Whole Human Tapestry: Sjón’s Sprawling “CoDex 1962” Trilogy
Katharine Coldiron decodes Icelandic author Sjón’s “CoDex 1962,” a “risky, funny, sexy, entirely unique book.”
Katharine ColdironOct 4, 2018
- Around the World
- Fiction
Ray Johnson’s Kaleidoscopic Interview Practice
A collection of interviews with an artist of collage and wordplay.
Megan N. LibertyOct 4, 2018
- Art & Architecture
Mining the Hurricane
Anjali Vaidya reviews Naomi Klein's latest, "The Battle for Paradise: Puerto Rico Takes on the Disaster Capitalists."
Anjali VaidyaOct 3, 2018
- Economics and Finance
- Politics