Literary Criticism

"Writing only leads to more writing." — Colette

Fictional Blues: Narrative Self-Invention from Bessie Smith to Jack White
An illuminating, thought-provoking, refreshingly broad-minded new book about the blues.
Clifford ThompsonJan 4, 2021
- Literary Criticism
- Music
Fighting Words
Sheila Liming cuts across “Hooked,” the latest book from Rita Felski.
Sheila LimingDec 14, 2020
- Literary Criticism
The Past Is Now: On Amin Samman’s “History in Financial Times”
John Macintosh charts "History in Financial Times," the new book by Amin Samman.
John MacintoshDec 9, 2020
6 Hörlgasse
Sharing spectral moments in Vienna and Los Angeles with Freud, Thomas Mann, and Marjorie Perloff.
Anthony RendonDec 5, 2020
The Hyena’s Laugh: I. U. Tarchetti and the Birth of Italian Gothic
Lawrence Venuti resurrects the fantastic tales of Iginio Ugo Tarchetti.
Lawrence VenutiDec 4, 2020
Horton! Thou Should Be Living in This Hour: On Matt Sandler’s “The Black Romantic Revolution: Abolitionist Poets at the End of Slavery”
Derik Smith reviews Matt Sandler’s latest work, “The Black Romantic Revolution.”
Derik SmithDec 1, 2020
Stranger Than Something That Is Already Strange: A Conversation with Namwali Serpell
The literary critic turned celebrated novelist discusses her new book, “Stranger Faces.”
Anastasia NikolisNov 11, 2020
Apocalypse Always: On Matthew Wolf-Meyer’s “Theory for the World to Come”
Sean Guynes evaluates “Theory for the World to Come,” the recently published book from Matthew J. Wolf-Meyer.
Sean GuynesNov 7, 2020
- Literary Criticism
- SF
The Poet and the Dictionary
The reality of a dictionary never lives up to its promises. It fails language. It also fails poets looking for pure language.
Chelsie MalyszekNov 7, 2020
Stanley Crouch, Radical Pragmatist
The death of Stanley Crouch leaves America’s intellectual culture less interesting, less imaginative, and, above all else, less artful.
David MasciotraOct 18, 2020
A Cohort of One’s Own
Frances Lazare considers the friendships and fights of "The Equivalents" by Maggie Doherty and "No Modernism Without Lesbians" by Diana Souhami.
Frances LazareOct 9, 2020
Truths Too Terrible: On Arthur Schnitzler and Franz Kafka
LARB presents an excerpt from Adam Kirsch’s “The Blessing and the Curse: The Jewish People and Their Books in the Twentieth Century.”
Adam KirschOct 8, 2020