Literary Criticism

"Writing only leads to more writing." — Colette

It’s Me, Hi, I’m the Problem
Tom Williams explores the folklore surrounding a pop star’s reputation in Elly McCausland’s “Swifterature: A Love Story.”
Tom Williams Nov 9
- Music
- Literary Criticism
Can Tragedies Transcend Borders?
Amy R. Wong explores Nan Z. Da’s “The Chinese Tragedy of King Lear.”
Amy R. WongOct 23
- History
- Literary Criticism
The Problem of the Parlor
Douglas Dowland close-reads Dan Sinykin and Johanna Winant’s new edited volume, “Close Reading for the Twenty-First Century.”
Douglas DowlandOct 21
Dogito, Ergo Sum
Isabel Jacobs considers Aaron Schuster’s “How to Research Like a Dog: Kafka’s New Science.”
Isabel JacobsOct 11
- Philosophy & Religion
- Literary Criticism
A Spectacle and Nothing Strange
Jacquelyn Ardam considers Francesca Wade’s “Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife.”
Jacquelyn ArdamOct 8
- Biography & Autobiography
- Literary Criticism
Making a Killing
Mikkel Krause Frantzen discusses the future of the financial thriller in an era of cryptocurrencies and climate crisis.
Mikkel Krause FrantzenOct 2
The Useless Prophet
Anthony Curtis Adler considers the new translation of Walter Benjamin’s “On Goethe” from Stanford University Press.
Anthony Curtis AdlerSep 16
- Philosophy & Religion
- Literary Criticism
On Translation Fiction and the Comfort of Monolingualism
Marie Lambert analyzes recent works of fiction that feature translators as protagonists, and the questions they raise about cross-cultural communication in a heterogeneous world.
Marie LambertSep 15
- Literary Criticism
- Fiction
A Higher Thing than History
Zach Gibson reviews Hayden White’s second volume of “The Ethics of Narrative: Essays on History, Literature, and Theory.”
Zach GibsonSep 2
Never a Patient Woman
Emmeline Clein finds pockets of faith in feminist writer Shulamith Firestone's ostensibly airless spaces in an essay from LARB Quarterly no. 45: “Submission.”
Emmeline CleinJun 24
If We Could Talk to the Animals
Andrew Koenig considers Elisha Cohn’s “Milieu: A Creaturely Theory of the Contemporary Novel.”
Andrew KoenigJun 6
- Literary Criticism
- Environment
The Fine Art of Bad Writing
Dan Sinykin interviews Tom Comitta about their latest project, “People’s Choice Literature: The Most Wanted and Unwanted Novels.”
Dan SinykinJun 5
- Literary Criticism
- Fiction