Who Tells the Stories of Chinese Leaders? On Two New Biographies
Lucy Hornby discusses two recent biographies about former Chinese leaders Zhou Enlai and Hua Guofeng.
Biography & Autobiography
"I don't think anyone should write their autobiography until after they're dead." — Samuel Goldwyn
Toward a Black Alternative Media: On Robeson Taj Frazier’s “KAOS Theory”
Jamal Batts reviews Robeson Taj Frazier’s “KAOS Theory: The Afrokosmic Ark of Ben Caldwell.”
The Life of You Too? On Eliot Weinberger’s “The Life of Tu Fu”
Forrest Gander reviews Eliot Weinberger’s “The Life of Tu Fu.”
Porn Star and Feminist: On Jane Kamensky’s “Candida Royalle and the Sexual Revolution”
Fred Turner reviews Jane Kamensky’s “Candida Royalle and the Sexual Revolution: A History from Below.”
One-Man Band: A Conversation with Ben Greenman
Jaelani Turner-Williams interviews Ben Greenman, co-author of Sly Stone’s “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).”
That Mystic Shit: On Lou Reed’s “The Art of the Straight Line” and Will Hermes’s “The King of New York”
Michael Scott Moore writes on the life, death, and possible religion of Lou Reed, via Lou Reed’s “The Art of the Straight Line: My Tai Chi” and Will Hermes’s “Lou Reed: The King of New York.”
Ambivalent Fanonism: On Adam Shatz’s “The Rebel’s Clinic”
Anthony Alessandrini reviews Adam Shatz’s “The Rebel’s Clinic: The Revolutionary Lives of Frantz Fanon.”
Blazing Old Worlds: On Francesca Peacock’s “Pure Wit”
Thomas Elrod reviews Francesca Peacock’s “Pure Wit: The Revolutionary Life of Margaret Cavendish.”
An Evening at the Getty with “Recording Artists: Intimate Addresses”
A preview of the upcoming Getty Research Institute x LARB event “Intimate Addresses: Recording Artists Live,” featuring live readings of artists’ letters by Nam June Paik, Benjamin Patterson, and more.
Our Bayard, the Celebrity: On George C. Wolfe’s “Rustin”
Marcus Lee looks at the new Netflix biopic of Bayard Rustin in the context of his reception and iconography.
Abortion on Trial: On Nicholas L. Syrett’s “The Trials of Madame Restell”
Edna Bonhomme reviews Nicholas L. Syrett’s “The Trials of Madame Restell: Nineteenth-Century America’s Most Infamous ‘Female Physician’ and the Campaign to Make Abortion a Crime.”
Waving or Drowning: On Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro”
Tim Riley reviews “Maestro” and puts Bradley Cooper’s account against the real-life biography of Leonard Bernstein.
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