Reviews Archive | Los Angeles Review of Books

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Religion Goes to the Movies
"Religion and Film" makes the otherwise confusing relationship between religion and film perspicuous in ways that few academic studies have .
Robert SinnerbrinkMay 25, 2018
- Film
- Religion
Higher Loyalty? James Comey and the Failure of Leadership
Unintentionally, "A Higher Loyalty" teaches us more about “ethical leadership” by showing not what Comey has done in his career but what he has failed to do.
Stephen RohdeMay 24, 2018
The Court’s Supreme Injustice
Allen Mendenhall passes judgment on “Supreme Injustice: Slavery in the Nation’s Highest Court” by Paul Finkelman.
Allen MendenhallMay 24, 2018
- History
- Law
The Words We Don’t Use: On Eviatar Zerubavel’s “Taken for Granted: The Remarkable Power of the Unremarkable”
Dan Friedman parses “Taken for Granted: The Remarkable Power of the Unremarkable” by Eviatar Zerubavel.
Dan FriedmanMay 23, 2018
- Cultural Studies
In the Snatches of Free Time: On Collecting Roland Barthes
Ayten Tartici pores over an “intentionally idiosyncratic collection of Barthesiana entitled ‘Album,’” edited by Éric Marty and translated by Jody Gladding.
Ayten TarticiMay 23, 2018
- Philosophy & Religion
A Chameleonic Career
A new book on California’s youngest and oldest governor.
Tom GallagherMay 22, 2018
- Biography & Autobiography
- Politics
Feminism’s Styles
A book on midcentury anti-feminism and the politics of sentimentality.
Lori MarsoMay 22, 2018
- Gender & Sexuality
- Philosophy & Religion
The Serial Killer as a Marketing Genius
Tom Zoellner on the Zodiac Killer and the man who's still searching for him.
Tom ZoellnerMay 21, 2018
- History
- Noir
There Will Always Be More “Angels”
Harrison Hill reviews “The World Only Spins Forward,” a collection of interviews and reflections on Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America.”
Harrison HillMay 21, 2018
- Gender & Sexuality
- History
“The Dramatis Personae of Our Lives”: On “A Bountiful Harvest: The Correspondence of Anthony Hecht and William L. MacDonald”
Patrick Kurp explores “A Bountiful Harvest: The Correspondence of Anthony Hecht and William L. MacDonald,” edited by Philip Hoy.
Patrick KurpMay 20, 2018
- Biography & Autobiography
- Poetry
An American Literary Hero’s Complicated Homecoming
In “Atticus Finch, The Biography,” historian Joseph Crespino exposes the complications of an American literary icon.
Rachel GordanMay 20, 2018
- Fiction
- Literary Criticism
The Dark Forest and Its Discontents: Cixin Liu’s “Death’s End”
Peter Berard reviews the final book of Cixin Liu's "Remembrance of Earth’s Past" trilogy.
Peter BerardMay 19, 2018
- Around the World
- SF
A New Hope, Ambiguously
There is a stately elegance to all the stories collected in Vandana Singh’s “Ambiguity Machines and Other Stories.”
Matthew CheneyMay 19, 2018
- SF
Happy Families: Lara Vapnyar on Vesna Goldsworthy’s Adaptation of Tolstoy in “Monsieur Ka”
The richest aspect of Vesna Goldsworthy’s novel “Monsieur Ka” is not its literary gaming but its incessant attempts to make the reader question reality.
Lara VapnyarMay 19, 2018
- Around the World
- Fiction
“Monster Portraits”: An Exploration of Identity That’s Entirely Unique
A captivating addition to the catalog of monsters in today's culture, Sofia and Del Samatar’s “Monster Portraits” strikes gold in a genre entirely its own.
Caro MaconMay 18, 2018
- Art & Architecture
- Fiction
The Crass Class in Christine Schutt’s “Pure Hollywood”
Christine Schutt’s poetic craftsmanship bumps up against her alienating treatment of lower-class characters.
Rebecca StonerMay 18, 2018
- Fiction