Literary Criticism

"Writing only leads to more writing." — Colette

Not Exactly a Thesis
Brais Lamela explores fiction, history, and the slipperiness of the nonfiction novel in ‘What Remains,’ newly translated by Jacob Rogers.
Michael BarronJan 15
- Literary Criticism
- Fiction
The Long Breath of the World
On László Krasznahorkai’s sentences and what they require of us.
Nyuol Lueth TongJan 14
- Literary Criticism
- Fiction
Has English Killed Global Literature?
Chloe Garcia Roberts considers J. M. Coetzee and Mariana Dimópulos’s new book on translation.
Chloe Garcia RobertsDec 19, 2025
- Literary Criticism
- Nonfiction
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, 2025
- Fiction
- Literary Criticism
Saints of the Middlebrow
Jon Repetti considers Jeremy Rosen’s “Genre Bending: The Plasticity of Form in Contemporary Literary Fiction.”
Jon RepettiDec 9, 2025
- Literary Criticism
Don’t Close Your Teeth
Cynthia Zarin traces the rise of fascism through the diary entries of Virginia Woolf, in an essay from LARB Quarterly no. 47: “Security.”
Cynthia ZarinNov 17, 2025
Nothing Ever Happens: “Mister Squishy” and the Year of the Sentence Diagram
Hannah Smart writes about her attempt to diagram a 900-word sentence in David Foster Wallace’s “Mister Squishy,” and what the efforts taught her about human inertia and meaningless language.
Hannah SmartNov 15, 2025
- Fiction
- Literary Criticism
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, 2025
- 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, 2025
- 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, 2025
Dogito, Ergo Sum
Isabel Jacobs considers Aaron Schuster’s “How to Research Like a Dog: Kafka’s New Science.”
Isabel JacobsOct 11, 2025
- Philosophy & Religion
- Literary Criticism
A Spectacle and Nothing Strange
Jacquelyn Ardam considers Francesca Wade’s “Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife.”
Jacquelyn ArdamOct 8, 2025
- Biography & Autobiography
- Literary Criticism