Reviews Archive | Los Angeles Review of Books

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The Shifting Horizon of Masculinity in Jamel Brinkley’s “A Lucky Man”
Brinkley offers visions of manhood and masculinity with a humane imagination for what characters miss, what they mean to say, what they might have done.
Evan McGarveyAug 5, 2018
- Fiction
Resurrection of the American Short Story: Nick White’s “Sweet and Low” and Lydia Millet’s “Fight No More”
Nandini Balial reviews new short story collections from Nick White and Lydia Millet.
Nandini BalialAug 4, 2018
- Fiction
A Burdensome Memory: Rebecca Makkai’s “The Great Believers”
Dan Lopez on the central concern of Rebecca Makkai’s “The Great Believers,” arguing for the urgency of the history for those marginalized in their time.
Dan LópezAug 4, 2018
- Fiction
- Gender & Sexuality
“Places We Actually Go”: Three Irish Poets’ Debuts
James O’Sullivan reviews collections by Roisin Kelly, Annemarie Ní Churreáin, and Elaine Cosgrove.
James O’SullivanAug 3, 2018
- Around the World
- Poetry
Watching a Country Unravel, One Person at a Time: An Intimate Account of Syria’s Civil War
A new, in-depth history of the Syrian Civil War puts a human face on an intractable conflict.
Najwa al-QattanAug 3, 2018
The Prodigal Mom
A new memoir from a celebrated California novelist.
Bonnie JohnsonAug 3, 2018
- Memoir & Essay
Blood, Love, Immigration in Roxane Gay’s “Ayiti”
"Gay’s stories about the 'first free black nation' are written with unapologetic realness. Her characters sat beside me, close enough to touch."
Utibe Gautt AteAug 2, 2018
- Fiction
Toward A Different Solution: Édouard Louis, Émile Zola, and the Literary Accusation
Benjamin S. Bernard and Colton Valentine on “Qui a tué mon père” (Who Killed My Father), a novel by French author and public intellectual Édouard Louis.
Benjamin Bernard, Colton ValentineAug 2, 2018
Seeking Justice at All Costs, from Colombia to Central America
A new book on Latin American corruption shows that the death squads of the 1980s never really died.
Danielle MackeyAug 1, 2018
- Around the World
- Politics
The Final “Final Foucault”?
Joseph Tanke reviews “Confessions of the Flesh” by Michel Foucault, unearthing the famous thinker’s later ideas.
Joseph TankeAug 1, 2018
Speaking of Silence
Does Alain Corbin's "A History of Silence" help us, as the author hopes, relearn how to be silent?
David E. CooperJul 31, 2018
- Religion
Leaps of Doubt in R. O. Kwon’s “The Incendiaries”
R. O. Kwon’s debut cannily blurs the line between campus novel and cult lit.
Anna E. ClarkJul 31, 2018
- Fiction
The Degradations of Empire
Adrian Van Young reviews “A Necessary Evil” by Abir Mukherjee.
Adrian Van YoungJul 30, 2018
- Around the World
- Noir
Time to Take Sexism in Post-Secondary Education Seriously
Sarah Boon looks at “Sexism Ed,” a new collection of essays from Kelly J. Baker that looks at how gender discrimination impacts women’s lives in academia.
Sarah BoonJul 27, 2018
- Education
- Gender & Sexuality
The Land of Pain
Pain is both enemy and idol in Michael Downs’s “The Strange and True Tale of Horace Wells, Surgeon Dentist.”
Maria BrowningJul 26, 2018
- Fiction
Eisenhower and Warren: Parallel Lives
"Eisenhower vs. Warren" is a well-paced, balanced account of two remarkable men.
Joel SeligmanJul 25, 2018