Fiction

"Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn't." — Mark Twain

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  Cowardice

  In a story from LARB Quarterly no. 47: “Security,” Hannah Liberman’s narrator—who has a “lemon-sized” tumor in her throat—faces a possible cancer diagnosis that forces her to confront her memories, relationships, and losses.

  Hannah LibermanDec 25

  • LARB Lit

  • Fiction

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  Will I Ever Stop Wanting?

  Tierney Finster traverses “Flat Earth,” Anika Jade Levy’s debut novel.

  Tierney FinsterDec 22

  • Fiction

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  There’s No Telling

  Annie Berke considers timelines not taken in new novels by Erin Somers and Catherine Newman.

  Annie BerkeDec 18

  • Fiction

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  I Wanted to Tell a Different Story

  Lydi Conklin discusses cancel culture, queer identity, and trauma responses with Anna Marie Cain.

  Anna Marie CainDec 18

  • Fiction

  • Gender & Sexuality

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  Isengard in Oxford

  Christian Kriticos explores J. R. R. Tolkien’s long-lost satire of a motorized world.

  Christian KriticosDec 17

  • SF

  • Fiction

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  Happy Birthday, Jane!

  To celebrate the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, Stephanie Insley Hershinow offers a survey of recent Austen-related books and artworks.

  Stephanie Insley HershinowDec 16

  • Fiction

  • Cultural Studies

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  Still Got It

  Zach Gibson meditates on “late style” in the work of postmodernists like Thomas Pynchon who are still publishing well into their eighties.

  Zach GibsonDec 14

  • Fiction

  • Literary Criticism

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  An Apocalypse for Every Epoch

  Emmett Rensin writes on eco-grief, the climate dirge, and one Armenian monk in a new hybrid fiction-cum-essay from LARB Quarterly no. 47, “Security.”

  Emmett RensinDec 13

  • LARB Lit

  • Fiction

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  They’re Not Simply Phantoms

  Leland Cheuk talks absolutism and Norse gods with novelist Kurt Baumeister.

  Leland CheukDec 12

  • Fiction

  • SF

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  The Robinsonade in the Age of Reality TV

  Drew Basile reads the new English reissue of French author Michel Tournier’s novel “Friday.”

  Drew Basile Dec 11

  • Fiction

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  A Fierce and Complicated Compassion

  Alix Christie considers Susan Straight’s challenging yet crucial portraits of an “overlooked” California.

  Alix ChristieDec 9

  • Fiction

  • Memoir & Essay

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  Your Life Is Not a Plot

  Nada Alic speaks with Halle Butler about social satire, writing humor, and her newest novel, “Banal Nightmare.”

  Nada AlicDec 6

  • Fiction