Reviews Archive | Los Angeles Review of Books

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The Dichotomy of Remembrance: Négar Djavadi’s “Disoriental”
Azarin Sadegh reviews Négar Djavadi's debut novel.
Azarin SadeghApr 11, 2018
- Around the World
- Fiction
Complex Harmonies: On Olga Tokarczuk’s “Flights”
Eileen Battersby reviews “Flights,” a novel by Olga Tokarczuk, translated from the Polish by Jennifer Croft.
Eileen BattersbyApr 11, 2018
- Around the World
- Fiction
“The Fearful Verve of the Genre”: On Woody Haut’s “Days of Smoke”
Ron Slate appreciates the “fearful verve” of “Days of Smoke,” a new novel by noir expert Woody Haut.
Ron SlateApr 10, 2018
- Noir
A Brand New Beginning: “Austerity Measures: The New Greek Poetry”
Christopher Janigian reviews “Austerity Measures: The New Greek Poetry.”
Christopher JanigianApr 10, 2018
- Around the World
- Poetry
Missed Connections: Hanne Ørstavik’s “Love”
Despite its brevity, Hanne Ørstavik's "Love," effectively rendered into English by Martin Aitken, demands and deserves total concentration.
Anita FelicelliApr 10, 2018
- Around the World
- Fiction
The Surprising Roots of Recent White Extremism
On Kathleen Belew's "Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America."
Joseph DardaApr 9, 2018
- History
- Politics
Inventing the Pogrom: Assigning Meaning to the Kishinev Massacre
How the word “pogrom” became one of the surprisingly few Russian words that have ever made it into English.
Jack MilesApr 9, 2018
- History
- Religion
Second Acts: A Second Look at Second Books of Poetry: Gabriel Fried and Tomás Q. Morín
Lisa Russ Spaar takes a second look at second books by poets Gabriel Fried and Tomás Q. Morín.
Lisa Russ SpaarApr 8, 2018
- Poetry
“Weapons Not of the Weak, but of the Strong”: On Nikolay Koposov’s “Memory Laws, Memory Wars: The Politics of the Past in Europe and Russia”
Douglas Smith on “Memory Laws, Memory Wars,” by Nikolay Koposov, which “makes clear the dangers in trying to legislate our understanding of the past.”
Douglas SmithApr 8, 2018
- History
- Law
Where Have We Come From? Where Are We Going?: Identity and Self in Ann Leckie’s “Provenance”
Glyn Morgan on Ann Leckie's "Provenance."
Glyn MorganApr 7, 2018
- SF
Everybody Knows His Name: James Baldwin and Richard Avedon’s “Nothing Personal”
Avedon and Baldwin on American mass culture, white supremacy, love, and solidarity.
Carmen MerportApr 7, 2018
- Art & Architecture
- Memoir & Essay
Antonio Damasio, Feeling, and the Evolution of Consciousness: Siri Hustvedt on “The Strange Order of Things”
Consciousness is embodied, enacted, and extended. “The mind” can't be cut off from our corporeal existence in the world and our interactions with it.
Siri HustvedtApr 6, 2018
- Philosophy & Religion
- Science & Technology
Going on Nerve: Lynn Emanuel’s “The Nerve of It: Poems New and Selected”
Suzanne Lummis reviews Lynn Emanuel’s “The Nerve of It.”
Suzanne LummisApr 6, 2018
- Poetry
The Strange Business of Being in the World
On David E. Cooper's "Senses of Mystery: Engaging with Nature and the Meaning of Life."
John ShandApr 6, 2018
- Philosophy & Religion
Ancient Folklore with a Modern Twist
Kicking off a YA series about a New Jersey princess (a real one).
Julia WaltonApr 5, 2018
- Young Adult & Children’s Literature
Liberation Utopias: Houria Bouteldja on Feminism, Anti-Semitism, and the Politics of Decolonization
A book that demystifies the fairy tales France tells about itself.
Ben RatskoffApr 5, 2018
- Gender & Sexuality
- Philosophy & Religion