Reviews Archive | Los Angeles Review of Books

All Reviews

A Voice from the Caucasus: On Alisa Ganieva’s “Bride and Groom”
Yelena Furman reads “Bride and Groom,” a novel by the Dagestani author Alisa Ganieva, translated from the Russian by Carol Apollonio.
Yelena FurmanJul 5, 2018
Second Acts: A Second Look at Second Books of Poetry by Charles Simic and Jacob Shores-Argüello
Lisa Russ Spaar takes a second look at second books by poets Charles Simic and Jacob Shores-Argüello.
Lisa Russ SpaarJul 4, 2018
- Poetry
Mirth and Melancholy: The Collected Stories of Machado de Assis
A newly translated compendium of Machado de Assis’s short fiction proves him to be an undisputed master of the form.
Morten Høi JensenJul 4, 2018
- Around the World
- Fiction
One World into Another
On the seriousness of play and the weirdness of “The Nutcracker.”
Andrew SchenkerJul 3, 2018
- Memoir & Essay
“Writing the Unwritten”: The Poetry of Tom Pickard
Alex Niven reviews Tom Pickard’s “Fiends Fell.”
Alex NivenJul 3, 2018
- Around the World
- Poetry
Fighting for Emotional Liberty in Joanna Walsh’s “Break.up”
Joanna Walsh’s latest work of autofiction uses the ghosts of the immediate past to examine the long game of life.
Melynda FullerJul 2, 2018
- Fiction
The Truest Music
“An essay is a venture, an attempt. It proposes not the Q.E.D. of arrival but ongoingness, forward motion.” Sven Birkerts on “The Art of the Wasted Day."
Sven BirkertsJul 2, 2018
- Memoir & Essay
A Force That Matters?
How did the 19th-century Catholic Church, in all its anti-modern grandeur and opulence, beget the 21st-century Church we see today?
Cormac ShineJul 1, 2018
- History
- Religion
Pilot’s Eye View: Sam Kleiner’s “The Flying Tigers”
Nicholas Utzig reviews “The Flying Tigers,” a historical work by Sam Kleiner.
Nicholas UtzigJul 1, 2018
- Around the World
- History
Los Angeles Pictured
Joshua Glick's "Los Angeles Documentary" is an encouragement to engage, now, with documentaries being made at the grassroots level by activist filmmakers.
Nora StoneJun 29, 2018
- Film
- History
Who Is a Beneficiary? You Are.
"The Beneficiary" is not invested simply in exposing liberal American hypocrisy. Instead this is a study of the uneasy place we live intellectually.
Christina LuptonJun 29, 2018
The Long View: Surveillance, the Internet, and Government Research
Eric Gade reviews “Surveillance Valley,” about military funding and surveillance use in the early years of the internet.
Eric GadeJun 28, 2018
- History
- Science & Technology
“The Way Life Happens”: On Laura Esther Wolfson’s “For Single Mothers Working as Train Conductors”
Lynne Sharon Schwartz praises “For Single Mothers Working as Train Conductors,” a collection of personal essays by Laura Esther Wolfson.
Lynne Sharon SchwartzJun 28, 2018
- Around the World
- Memoir & Essay
Elegies and Enduring Love in Jim Crace’s “The Melody”
Jim Crace’s “The Melody” sings a haunting refrain of enduring love.
Robert Allen PapinchakJun 27, 2018
- Fiction
Love, Cruelty, Passion, and Lies
On “Our Kind of Cruelty” by Araminta Hall.
Karen BrissetteJun 27, 2018
- Noir
Elegant, Tragic, Strange: Eric Beck Rubin’s “School of Velocity”
André van Loon reviews Eric Beck Rubin's debut novel, "School of Velocity."
André van LoonJun 26, 2018
- Fiction