Nonfiction

Again, Again, Again: On Carmen Machado and J. Robert Lennon’s “Critical Hits” and Frank Lantz’s “The Beauty of Games”
Neuroscientist Patrick House reviews two new books on the art of repetition in video games—“Critical Hits: Writers Playing Video Games,” edited by Carmen Machado and J. Robert Lennon, and “The Beauty of Games” by Frank Lantz....
Patrick HouseNov 29
What Darkness Makes of Light: On Nina MacLaughlin’s “Winter Solstice”
Heather Treseler reviews “Winter Solstice: An Essay” by Nina MacLaughlin....
Heather TreselerNov 29
- Nonfiction
- Poetry
Fear and Writing in Xinjiang: On Tahir Hamut Izgil’s “Waiting to Be Arrested at Night” and Perhat Tursun’s “The Backstreets”
Fear and Writing in Xinjiang: On Tahir Hamut Izgil’s “Waiting to Be Arrested at Night: A Uyghur Poet’s Memoir of China’s Genocide” and Perhat Tursun’s “The Backstreets: A Novel from Xinjiang.”...
Benno WeinerNov 28
Using Our Words: On Minna Dubin’s “Mom Rage”
Tanya Ward Goodman reviews Minna Dubin’s “Mom Rage: The Everyday Crisis of Modern Motherhood.”...
Tanya Ward GoodmanNov 20
- Cultural Studies
- Nonfiction
The Great Leap to Valhalla: Wagner in China
Melissa Chan writes about the performance of Wagner operas in China....
Melissa ChanNov 13
What Is Internet Art Actually Doing? On Omar Kholeif’s “Internet_Art”
Cal Revely-Calder finds much to appreciate, and more to decry, in Omar Kholeif’s “Internet_Art: From the Birth of the Web to the Rise of NFTs.”...
Cal Revely-CalderNov 11
The Bulgarian Computer’s Global Reach: On Victor Petrov’s “Balkan Cyberia”
Alex Langstaff calls “Balkan Cyberia: Cold War Computing, Bulgarian Modernization, and the Information Age Behind the Iron Curtain” a must-read for anyone interested in how the Iron Curtain was circumvented in the digital age....
Alex LangstaffNov 10
To Walden: On Lawrence Buell’s “Henry David Thoreau” and Robert D. Richardson’s “Three Roads Back”
Todd Shy reviews Lawrence Buell’s “Henry David Thoreau: Thinking Disobediently” and Robert D. Richardson’s “Three Roads Back: How Emerson, Thoreau, and William James Responded to the Greatest Losses of Their Lives.”...
Todd ShyNov 7
- Biography
- Nonfiction
Thinking Was for Later; Movement Was for Now: On the Vortex Group’s “George Floyd Uprising”
Jamie Peck reviews “The George Floyd Uprising” by Vortex Group....
Jamie PeckNov 6
You’ll Never Make Yourself Fall Asleep: On Marie Darrieussecq’s “Sleepless”
Thom Sliwowski reviews Marie Darrieussecq’s “Sleepless: A Memoir of Insomnia.”...
Thom SliwowskiNov 6
- Memoir
- Nonfiction
Do Women Have It Easier Than Men Now? On Caitlin Moran’s “What About Men?”
Meredith Maran reviews Caitlin Moran’s “What About Men? A Feminist Answers the Question.”...
Meredith MaranOct 30
- Nonfiction
The One-Way Ticket to Barcelona
In a preview of the new LARB Quarterly, no. 39: “Air,” Corina Zappia considers the state of travel for single women....
Corina ZappiaOct 27
A Man Without a Country: On Scott Eyman’s “Charlie Chaplin vs. America”
Chris Yogerst reviews Scott Eyman’s “Charlie Chaplin vs. America: When Art, Sex, and Politics Collided.”...
Chris YogerstOct 26
Can We Imagine Better Work? On Aviva Briefel and Jason Middleton’s “Labors of Fear”
Brandon R. Grafius reviews Aviva Briefel and Jason Middleton’s “Labors of Fear: The Modern Horror Film Goes to Work.”...
Brandon R. GrafiusOct 25
Everything Is Embedded in What Came Before: A Conversation with Robert M. Sapolsky
Julien Crockett interviews Robert M. Sapolsky, author of “Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will.”...
Julien CrockettOct 22
You Mustn’t Pretend You Didn’t Know: Arundhati Roy on the Condition of India Under Modi
Arundhati Roy accepts the Charles Veillon Foundation’s 45th European Essay Prize for lifetime achievement....
Arundhati RoyOct 21
Who Gets to Set the Research Agenda for the Planet? On Lorraine Daston’s “Rivals”
Deborah Coen pushes back against one part of Lorraine Daston’s “Rivals: How Scientists Learned to Cooperate” by arguing that what constitutes “success” is a matter of who is part of the scientific conversation (and who is not)—and thus a matter of standpoint....
Deborah R. CoenOct 17
Science Fiction Belongs to All of Us: On Joy Sanchez-Taylor’s “Diverse Futures”
Julia Lindsay reviews Joy Sanchez-Taylor’s “Diverse Futures: Science Fiction and Authors of Color.”...
Julia LindsayOct 8
- Nonfiction
- Speculative Fiction
Ask Not What Your Robot Can Do for You, but What You Can Do for Your Robot
Jerrine Tan visits a LOVOT robotics lab and is unexpectedly enchanted....
Jerrine TanOct 4
The Struggle Continues: On Vincent Bevins’s “If We Burn”
Tyler McBrien reviews Vincent Bevins’s “If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution.”...
Tyler McBrienOct 3
Stories We Tell: The Promise and Peril of Mental Illness Narratives
Through analysis of Meg Kissinger’s “While You Were Out: An Intimate Portrait of Mental Illness in an Era of Silence” and Rachel Aviv’s “Strangers to Ourselves: Unsettled Minds and Stories that Make Us,” Isabel Ruehl contemplates the role of storytelling in perpertuating mental illness....
Isabel RuehlSep 28
- Memoir
- Nonfiction
The Funny Thing About Misogyny
In a preview of LARB Quarterly no. 39: “Air,” Katie Kadue breaks down the misogynist history of the rape joke....
Katie KadueSep 25
- LARB Quarterly
- Nonfiction
A Fireball in the Marshall Islands: How a Nuclear Test Changed the World
Émile P. Torres describes how it was not the dropping of the atom bombs in 1945 but the testing of a nuclear bomb is the Marshall Islands in 1954 that marked the moment when people became preoccupied with human extinction....
Émile P. TorresSep 20
Annals of an Alternate World: On John McPhee’s “Tabula Rasa”
Noah Rawlings reviews John McPhee’s “Tabula Rasa.”...
Noah RawlingsSep 15
- Memoir
- Nonfiction