The Monthly Digest: July 2020

In June LARB continued its decade-long tradition of publishing deeply considered, engagingly written, and carefully edited review-essays on important works of nonfiction. The subjects ranged from history to philosophy to environmental studies, but all the pieces had one thing in common: they both did justice to the books under review and stood on their own as examples of thoughtful, well-crafted writing. The journal’s commitment to this kind of writing was recognized by the Washington Monthly, which awarded a LARB essay the inaugural Kukula Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Book Reviewing in the smaller publication category. Indeed, of the five pieces shortlisted in the category, two had appeared in LARB. We are deeply grateful to the Monthly and its panel of judges. The recognition inspires us to forge ahead with even greater resolve in these difficult times. And as the pieces below demonstrate, that is exactly what we’re doing. — LARB Editorial