Reviews Archive | Los Angeles Review of Books

All Reviews

Temptation and Trickery: Dirty Double-Dealing in “Orchid & the Wasp”
Yoona Lee reviews Caoilinn Hughes's debut novel, "Orchid & the Wasp."
Yoona LeeAug 23, 2018
- Around the World
- Fiction
Can the Digital Humanities Be Human?
How tagged databases can fruitfully inform literary research.
Nick MoschovakisAug 22, 2018
- Literary Criticism
- Science & Technology
A Veneration of Secrecy: Marriage, Misogyny, and Loneliness in “The Third Hotel”
Lauren Sarazen finds Laura van den Berg’s powerful, atmospheric “The Third Hotel” a haunting descent into grief and the mysteries we can’t quite solve.
Lauren SarazenAug 21, 2018
- Fiction
Ecstatic Communion: Karl Ove Knausgaard’s Seasons Quartet Conclusion, “Summer”
With “Summer,” the conclusion to his Seasons quartet, Norwegian maestro Karl Ove Knausgaard provides a master class in creating reader-writer intimacy.
Lisa TeasleyAug 21, 2018
- Around the World
- Memoir & Essay
“Reach Out Your Hand”: On Mark Wagenaar’s “Southern Tongues Leave Us Shining”
Will Brewbaker is transfixed by “Southern Tongues Leave Us Shining,” the latest collection from poet Mark Wagenaar.
Will BrewbakerAug 20, 2018
- Poetry
Taking Philosophy Forward
In “Taking Back Philosophy: A Multicultural Manifesto,” Bryan W. Van Norden calls on philosophers to expand their intellectual horizons.
Jonardon GaneriAug 20, 2018
- Philosophy & Religion
Russian Cosmism Versus Interstellar Bosses: Reclaiming Full-Throttle Luxury Space Communism
Aaron Winslow reviews the collection "Russian Cosmism," edited by Boris Groys.
Aaron WinslowAug 18, 2018
In Defense of the Medium
Hillary Chute's "Why Comics?" provide a counternarrative to the corporate history of mainstream comics.
Alex MillerAug 18, 2018
- Comics
At a Certain Age and Searching for Meaning: Anne Tyler’s “Clock Dance”
Anne Tyler’s “Clock Dance” explores a woman’s desperate desire to remain useful, even indispensable, as she ages.
Sheila McClearAug 17, 2018
- Fiction
The Keeper of the Keys Tells His Tale
The art and science of understanding an Old Master.
Mike LankfordAug 17, 2018
- Art & Architecture
- Memoir & Essay
Assembling a New Left
Terence Renaud explores the historical context of “Assembly,” a book on new left theory by Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt.
Terence RenaudAug 16, 2018
Originalism on Trial
Bob Egelko reviews Richard L. Hasen's "The Justice of Contradictions: Antonin Scalia and the Politics of Disruption."
Bob EgelkoAug 15, 2018
- Biography & Autobiography
- Law
The Political Print: On David Francis Taylor’s “The Politics of Parody”
Jake Fuchs reviews “The Politics of Parody,” a literary analysis of British satirical prints by David Francis Taylor.
Jake FuchsAug 15, 2018
- History
- Politics
A Science of Exceptions: On Michel Serres’s “The Birth of Physics”
Christine Wertheim takes the measure of “The Birth of Physics” by Michel Serres, translated from the French by David Webb and William James Ross.
Christine WertheimAug 14, 2018
- Philosophy & Religion
- Science & Technology
Beyond the Lyme Wars
Suzanne Koven applies a clinical lens to “Sick: A Memoir” by Porochista Khakpour.
Suzanne KovenAug 14, 2018
- Memoir & Essay
- Science & Technology
Revolt and Revulsion in Margarita García Robayo’s “Fish Soup”
Margarita García Robayo’s prose is concise and startling, her voice versatile and capable of packing a serious punch.
Ellen JonesAug 14, 2018
- Around the World
- Fiction