Reviews Archive | Los Angeles Review of Books

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What Vallejo Do You Want?
Dean Rader considers César Vallejo’s ‘The Eternal Dice: Selected Poems,’ recently translated by Margaret Jull Costa.
Dean RaderJan 19
- Poetry
Great Maestros of the Human Heart
Larry Wolff attends the October 2025 Parma Verdi Festival to write about ‘Macbeth,’ ‘Otello,’ and ‘Falstaff.’
Larry WolffJan 17
- Music
Daddy Reissues
Dinah Brooke’s 1971 debut novel ‘Love Life of a Cheltenham Lady,’ newly reissued, explores a young woman’s journey to realizing that ‘we should give up the charade’ of ‘heterosexual relationships and the bourgeois family structure.’
Sophie PooleJan 17
- Fiction
Not Exactly a Thesis
Brais Lamela explores fiction, history, and the slipperiness of the nonfiction novel in ‘What Remains,’ newly translated by Jacob Rogers.
Michael BarronJan 15
- Literary Criticism
- Fiction
Science on Ice
Neil Shubin’s stories of polar exploration tell us about the losses ahead.
Marissa GrunesJan 13
- Science & Technology
- Environment
A Guide to Living in and with Nature
What the ancients can teach us about cultivating a sustainable world.
Kurt CaswellJan 13
- Philosophy & Religion
- Environment
Toward a Feminism Without Gender
Monique Wittig’s novels ‘The Lesbian Body’ and ‘Across the Acheron’ have just received new editions that reflect the feminist thinker’s ongoing cultural impact.
Gabriel Ojeda-SaguéJan 12
- Fiction
- Gender & Sexuality
Dangerous, Decadent Depths
John Knych dissects Hiron Ennes’s ‘The Works of Vermin.’
John KnychJan 12
- SF
Made for Strength
Irene Katz Connelly argues for a new approach to witch hysteria via two recent novels, Olga Ravn’s ‘The Wax Child’ and Irene Solà’s ‘I Gave You Eyes and You Looked Toward Darkness.’
Irene Katz ConnellyJan 10
 The Toxic Landscapes of War
Gregg Mitman looks at the bodily damage that soldiers take home in Joshua Howe and Alexander Lemons’s ‘Warbody: A Marine Sniper and the Hidden Violence of Modern Warfare.’
Gregg Mitman Jan 8
- Environment
- Politics
Our Ordeal Is Worth It
Mona Fastvold’s ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’ presents a musical American allegory of the Great Awakening that is ‘fundamentally carnal, even if its heroine is decidedly not.’
Kelli WestonJan 6
- Film
- Philosophy & Religion
The Globalization of US Healthcare
Eram Alam’s new book uncovers the ways that immigrant physicians have propped up the American medical system.
Kim AdamsJan 6
- Science & Technology
- History
Outward Signs of Inner Mysteries
Eric Gudas on the work and afterlife of the misunderstood photographer Diane Arbus.
Eric GudasJan 5
- Art & Architecture
Flesh Under Pressure
Chelsea Davis considers Katherine Dunn’s posthumous story collection ‘Near Flesh.’
Chelsea DavisJan 4
- Fiction
- SF
Almost Candid
Tim Riley listens for the unspoken ironies of Cameron Crowe’s career via his new memoir, ‘The Uncool.’
Tim RileyJan 3
We Did Good Enough
Vesper North ponders Lisa Alvarez’s new story collection.
Vesper NorthJan 3
- Fiction