Paul Thompson

Paul Thompson was born in Winnipeg, Canada, and raised in Minneapolis. His criticism, essays, and profiles have appeared in GQ, Pitchfork, New York, Playboy, The Washington Post, and Rolling Stone, among other publications; his fiction has appeared in Hobart. Since 2013, he has lived in Los Angeles, where from 2022 until 2025 he was the senior editor of the Los Angeles Review of Books.

Articles

Perfect, or Whatever
Paul Thompson speaks with Mike Powell about his debut novel, “New Paltz, New Paltz.”
Paul ThompsonSep 26
- Fiction
I Became a Better Magician
Paul Thompson reviews Nathan Fielder’s “The Rehearsal.”
Paul ThompsonJul 2
- Television
“Who’s Eve Babitz?”
Paul Thompson scratches the surface of Eve Babitz’s Los Angeles on the occasion of her birthday.
Paul ThompsonMay 14, 2024
Become Death: On Christopher Nolan's “Oppenheimer”
Paul Thompson considers Chris Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” and the atomic bomb on-screen.
Paul ThompsonMar 10, 2024
- Film
As Dark as It Can Be
Paul ThompsonOct 16, 2023
Permission to Meander: A Conversation with Drew Millard
Paul Thompson speaks with Drew Millard about his new book, “How Golf Can Save Your Life.”
Paul ThompsonJun 5, 2023
- Nonfiction
- Sports
Spring Break Forever
On its 10th anniversary, Paul Thompson revisits Harmony Korine’s “Spring Breakers.”
Paul ThompsonMar 22, 2023
- Film
The Half-Century in Bullshit: On Peter Bogdanovich’s “Paper Moon” and Robert Greene’s “The 48 Laws of Power”
Paul Thompson examines the metabolization of bullshit into our lives, by way of analyzing Peter Bogdanovich’s film “Paper Moon” and Robert Greene’s book “The 48 Laws of Power.”
Paul ThompsonJan 28, 2023
- Film
- Literary Criticism
What Are You Looking For?: A Conversation with Open Mike Eagle
Paul Thompson interviews rapper Open Mike Eagle for issue no. 36 of The LARB Quarterly.
Paul ThompsonJan 6, 2023
- LARB Lit
- Music
It’s All Pastiche: On Todd Field’s “TÁR”
Paul Thompson reviews Todd Field’s “TÁR.”
Paul ThompsonNov 18, 2022
- Film
- Music
I Don’t Worry About My Oeuvre: A Conversation with John Carpenter
Paul Thompson interviews John Carpenter about the state of horror, navigating Hollywood, and the movies he didn’t make.
Paul ThompsonNov 2, 2022
- Film
- Music
- SF
The Girl and the Outlaw: Jordan Peele’s “Nope” and the End of the Alien
Paul Thompson explores the strangeness of the film industry in L.A. and its reckoning with racist histories and the natural world in Jordan Peele's "Nope."
Paul ThompsonSep 11, 2022