Reviews Archive | Los Angeles Review of Books

All Reviews

Journey to the Center of Bed-Stuy
A stroll through the neighborhoods of Bedford-Stuyvesant turns into an exploration of what it means to be black and middle class.
M. W. LipschutzSep 14, 2017
- Memoir & Essay
- Politics
Rushdie’s Domus Aurea: “The Golden House” by Salman Rushdie
What can the novel say about Trump? Probably not much at this stage. About the United States? Plenty. Does "The Golden House" do so? Unfortunately not.
Shehryar FazliSep 13, 2017
- Fiction
“People Like Us”: On Parker Bilal’s Makana Mysteries
Glenn Harper looks at the Makana Mysteries by Parker Bilal.
Glenn HarperSep 12, 2017
- Around the World
- Noir
On Fuel
Imre Szeman reviews Karen Pinkus’s inventive and engaging “Fuel: A Speculative Dictionary” — a notable addition to the “energy humanities.”
Imre SzemanSep 12, 2017
- SF
- Science & Technology
Please Be Nice to Me: Navigating History, Mystery, and Desire in Chris Kraus’s “After Kathy Acker”
In the first authorized biography of Kathy Acker, Chris Kraus digs beneath the myths around the avant-garde heroine.
Anna IoanesSep 11, 2017
- Biography & Autobiography
- Gender & Sexuality
A Dissident Cartoonist Wades into the United States’s Toxic Relationship With Israel
Antony Loewenstein on Eli Valley's "Diaspora Boy: Comics on Crisis in America and Israel."
Antony LoewensteinSep 10, 2017
The News Upsets Walter: On André Naffis-Sahely’s “The Promised Land: Poems from Itinerant Life”
Declan Ryan appreciates “The Promised Land: Poems from Itinerant Life,” the debut collection by André Naffis-Sahely.
Declan RyanSep 10, 2017
- Around the World
- Poetry
Philosophy and the Gods of the City: Benjamin Aldes Wurgaft’s “Thinking in Public”
What good does the intellectual do in public?
Jon BaskinSep 10, 2017
- History
- Philosophy & Religion
Against the Devil: The Tormented Life of Czesław Miłosz
Maria Rybakova reflects on the tormented life of Czesław Miłosz, as told in a new biography by Andrzej Franaszek.
Maria RybakovaSep 9, 2017
Art Young, the Legend, Revisited
Paul Buhle reviews "To Laugh That We May Not Weep: The Life and Art of Art Young."
Paul BuhleSep 9, 2017
- Comics
Second Acts: A Second Look at Second Books of Poetry: Amy Clampitt and Richard Deming
Lisa Russ Spaar appreciates the second books of Amy Clampitt and Richard Deming.
Lisa Russ SpaarSep 8, 2017
- Poetry
The Intellectual Roots of the Radical Right
Anita Felicelli on Nancy MacLean's "Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America."
Anita FelicelliSep 8, 2017
Girls and Men: On Svetlana Alexievich’s “The Unwomanly Face of War”
Oksana Maksymchuk and Max Rosochinsky consider “The Unwomanly Face of War” by Svetlana Alexievich.
Max Rosochinsky, Oksana MaksymchukSep 8, 2017
A Utopia of Negotiation?
Jeff Kichaven judges the merits of Lainey Feingold's "Structured Negotiation: A Winning Alternative to Lawsuits."
Jeff KichavenSep 7, 2017
- Law
- Politics
The De-WASPing of the Power Elite: Roman Catholics in American Politics
Catholics overcame systematic suspicion and prejudice to become one of the most indispensable forces in American government, says a new book.
Suzanne O’MalleySep 7, 2017
- Politics
- Religion
The Long Exile: Achy Obejas’s “The Tower of the Antilles”
Dan Lopez on the murky and precarious position of the exile in Achy Obejas’s “The Tower of the Antilles.”
Dan LópezSep 6, 2017
- Fiction