Reviews Archive | Los Angeles Review of Books

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Just Grace
“A Grace Paley Reader” contains a sampling of the wisdom that one woman gleaned from not taking the easy way out.
Jerusha Joy EmersonMay 31, 2017
Grand Finale: On “The Poetry of Weldon Kees: Vanishing as Presence”
Kathleen Rooney reviews John T. Irwin’s “The Poetry of Weldon Kees: Vanishing as Presence.”
Kathleen RooneyMay 30, 2017
- Literary Criticism
- Poetry
Flyover Utopia: On Keith Krumwiede’s “Atlas of Another America”
Mimi Zeiger examines “Atlas of Another America: An Architectural Fiction” by Keith Krumwiede.
Mimi ZeigerMay 30, 2017
- Art & Architecture
- Cultural Studies
The Awful Pleasures of Spiritual Pornography
A scholar of religion — attacked by conservative Christian authors — tries to understand their pique.
Alan LevinovitzMay 29, 2017
- Politics
- Religion
“A Sweetness in This Sense”: On X. J. Kennedy’s “That Swing: Poems, 2008–2016”
Patrick Kurp finds sweetness in “That Swing: Poems, 2008–2016” by X. J. Kennedy.
Patrick KurpMay 29, 2017
- Poetry
“Men Without Women”: What Happens When Murakami’s Ordinary Men Grow Older
Sad as the stories in Haruki Murakami’s “Men Without Women” are, they are beautiful and strange, tinged with hope.
Marcy DermanskyMay 29, 2017
- Around the World
- Fiction
A Town’s Own Story: Édouard Louis’s “The End of Eddy”
Charlie Tyson on Édouard Louis's autobiographical novel.
Charlie TysonMay 28, 2017
- Fiction
- Gender & Sexuality
Wine, Olive Oil, and Wisteria: A Sensual Tour of the “City of Lions”
Jacob Mikanowski follows Józef Wittlin through the “City of Lions.”
Jacob MikanowskiMay 27, 2017
- Around the World
- Cultural Studies
“And My Frigidaire is Here!”: Gender and Family Life in Postwar France
John Merriman reviews “From Vichy to the Sexual Revolution” by Sarah Fishman.
John MerrimanMay 26, 2017
Endless Houses or Vast Potatoes? The Impossible Architecture of Frederick Kiesler
Sophie Duvernoy on Stephen J. Phillips’s “Elastic Architecture.”
Sophie DuvernoyMay 26, 2017
- Art & Architecture
Heroes and Villains in Ken Liu’s “The Wall of Storms”
Andrew Yang on Ken Liu's "The Wall of Storms."
Andrew YangMay 25, 2017
- SF
The Dance of Grief: On Amelia Gray’s “Isadora”
Gayle Brandeis on Amelia Gray's new novel about Isadora Duncan.
Gayle BrandeisMay 24, 2017
- Fiction
Have a Carrot, Have Two
Glen Roven on Amy Gary's "In the Great Green Room," a biography of "Goodnight Moon" author Margaret Wise Brown.
Glen RovenMay 23, 2017
- Biography & Autobiography
- Young Adult & Children’s Literature
Remaking the University: The Idea of the English University
Michael Meranze reviews Stefan Collini’s “Speaking of Universities.”
Michael MeranzeMay 23, 2017
The Anatomy of Finickiness: On Alexander Theroux’s “Einstein’s Beets: An Examination of Food Phobias”
Who knew Mussolini didn't like mashed potatoes? Geoff Nicholson enjoys Alexander Theroux's latest.
Geoff NicholsonMay 22, 2017
- Food & Drink
- History
Presidential Purgatories: George Saunders’s “Lincoln in the Bardo”
Matt Sandler on George Saunders's debut novel, "Lincoln in the Bardo."
Matt SandlerMay 22, 2017
- Fiction