"Even in rejections, Morrison was building a movement." From the LARB Archives: Examining the power of Toni Morrison's rejections as an editor at Random House: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/there-is-no-point-in-my-being-other-than-honest-with-you-on-toni-morrisons-rejection-letters/

There Is No Point in My Being Other Than Honest with You: On Toni Morrison’s Rejection Letters | Los Angeles Review of Books

Melina Moe writes about the rejection letters Toni Morrison sent as an editor at Random House.

lareviewofbooks.org

"While it does frankly discuss episodes in which he behaved less than well, it sometimes feels as if he is pulling his punches." Dan Friedman on Roland Orzabal's memoir: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/roland-orzabal-tears-fears-welcome-your-life-memoir/

"This was not the future that Indian policymakers hoped for." Angela Saini on Dwaipayan Banerjee's "Computing in the Age of Decolonization" and why India never built a Silicon Valley of its own: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/computing-age-decolonization-india-silicon-valley-nehru-bhabha/

“If I fell, I’d never get up again.” Read Susan Daitch's short story "Advice from a Stunt Double": https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/susan-daitch-fiction-traffic-advice-from-a-stunt-double/

Advice from a Stunt Double | Los Angeles Review of Books

In this new story, a stunt double finds Brooklyn’s industrial backyard ripe for urban exploration, and for losing yourself along the way.

lareviewofbooks.org

"Watts’s stress on the 'adaptability' of Rome produces a strangely efficient and benign portrait of empire" Harry Sidebottom explores Edward Watts's "The Romans: A 2,000-Year History": http://lareviewofbooks.org/article/romans-2000-year-history-edward-watts-political-historiography

Roland Orzabal from Tears for Fears has written an “astrological memoir” — I reviewed it for @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social lareviewofbooks.org/article/rola...

Sowing the Seeds of Apology | Los Angeles Review of Books

Roland Orzabal of Tears for Fears makes amends in his new ‘astrological memoir.’

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"It is Litvinov’s insight on the train that remains with the reader...the realization that everything 'seems to be changing constantly.'” Eric Vanderwall reviews a new translation of 1867 novel, "Smoke": https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/smoke-ivan-turgenev-russian-class-novel-donald-rayfield/

"'The challenge to Orzabal writing a successful autobiography is that he actually wanted to write a book about astrology. 'Welcome to Your Life' is also that book." Dan Friedman on Roland Orzabal's new memoir: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/roland-orzabal-tears-fears-welcome-your-life-memoir/

"Zirin’s biography functions less as a detailed portrait of a man than as an inspirational manual for contemporary endurance." Tim Riley reviews Dave Zirin's new biography of Howard Zinn: http://lareviewofbooks.org/article/bending-the-arc-of-history

Finally got around to reading this review, and wow

Los Angeles Review of Books@lareviewofbooks.bsky.social · 2mo ago

"If the Weather Underground failed, we should ask: compared to what?" Emmett Rensin explores the moral reckoning of Zayd Ayers Dohrn’s “Dangerous, Dirty, Violent & Young”: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/dangerous-dirty-violent-young-ayers-dohrn-weather-underground/

"This was a test run for how much humiliation the country is willing to endure. And we miserably failed it.” Evan Pheiffer reports on the fallout of Armenia's recent election: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/armenia-turkey-relations-yerevan-azerbaijan-soviet-russia-west/

"Turgenev largely resisted taking sides, in both his life and in 'Smoke.'" Eric Vanderwall reviews a new translation of Ivan Turgenev’s 1867 novel, "Smoke": https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/smoke-ivan-turgenev-russian-class-novel-donald-rayfield/

"Not all changes are explained by adaptability; sometimes they are just changes." Harry Sidebottom reviews "The Romans" by Edward Watts: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/romans-2000-year-history-edward-watts-political-historiography/

"A world too austere for art is impoverished in more than one sense." @scottwstern.bsky.social on the field of fictional character biographies: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/fictional-character-biographies-shakespeare-margaret-hannibal-juliet-bigger/

Character Study | Los Angeles Review of Books

The burgeoning field of fiction character biographies.

lareviewofbooks.org

“If Collins is then to be the final great butterfly collector, he will be the last of an illustrious cast of adventurers and eccentrics.” Emil Leth Beiter on the last of the last of the butterfly collectors: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/emil-beiter-butterfly-collector/

"I would love to have my novels live a peripatetic life. I just want that to happen on my own terms, and I reject the terms dictated by the global novel." Aruni Kashyap talks about his new novel "How to Date a Fanatic": https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/aruni-kashyap-how-to-date-a-fanatic/

Looking to level up your writing? Pick up a pen and start cartooning. Join Nathan Gelgud for a six-week workshop on thinking, writing, editing, and drawing like a cartoonist. Learn more and register today: lareviewofbooks.org/event/how-to-think-like-a-cartoonist-with-nathan-gelgud/

"It’s worth remembering an old Yiddish proverb: 'Better a bad peace than a good war.'" Evan Pheiffer discusses Armenia's bold historic gamble to align with Turkey and the West: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/armenia-turkey-relations-yerevan-azerbaijan-soviet-russia-west/

Another day of sun means another day to wear your favorite LARB Critic Hat. Get yours today—now available in sky blue! shop.lareviewofbooks.org

"People have called the ending ridiculous, beautiful, stupid, amazing, emotional, cheesy, naive, too far and not far enough. They’re all right." Brendan Hodges dives into Steven Spielberg’s "Disclosure Day": https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/disclosure-day-hodges-spielberg/

"If we reimagine a foundational narrative of our civilization in an age of serious crisis, how can authenticity be anything close to a viable goal?" Benedek Kruchió on "The Odyssey": https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/homer-odyssey-christopher-nolan-career-retrospective-memory-adaptation/

"The people in 'How to Date a Fanatic' believe that the triumph of life is in sustaining long-term relationships instead of creating boundaries." Torsa Ghosal interviews Aruni Kashyap about his novel "How to Date a Fanatic": https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/aruni-kashyap-how-to-date-a-fanatic/

It's only mid-summer but we're already thinking about autumn: applications are now open for the fall copydesk intern! Running from Sept 14-December 18, with in-person, remote, or hybrid availability. Learn more and apply at https://airtable.com/app5UeNk1TbjY8imi/pagmpclOj2tWTfio1/form

"Butler brings surprising vigor to his telling of the story of government heavy-handedness and curatorial clumsiness when it comes to the arts." Paul Elie reviews Isaac Butler's "The Perfect Moment": https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/perfect-moment-god-sex-art-culture-wars-butler/

On this week's #LARBRadioHour, Historian Erin Maglaque joins the podcast to talk about her new book "Presence: A Hidden History of the Female Body." Listen now: https://lareviewofbooks.org/av/erin-maglaque-presence-podcast-interview-book/

"Chinese Muslims have often found themselves judged as an anomaly—neither fully Muslim nor fully Chinese." Benno Weiner and Qianyu Ma on two new books tracking the history of China’s Muslim minority: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/islamic-china-rian-thum-muslim-transnationalism-hale-eroglu/

Delighted to see my essay on Nolan’s The Odyssey, cultural memory, and self-referentiality published in @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social “The Filmography That Launched a Thousand Ships” lareviewofbooks.org/article/home...

The Filmography That Launched a Thousand Ships | Los Angeles Review of Books

Decentering Homer and reflecting on the self-referential nature of Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey.’

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"Through its pronounced self-referentiality, the film appears as the victory lap of an immensely successful auteur retracing Nolan's career to its Homeric origins." @BKruchio on "The Odyssey": https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/homer-odyssey-christopher-nolan-career-retrospective-memory-adaptation/

“Television flow reorganized narrative time. Social media has radicalized it.” From our Traffic issue, Max L. Feldman on what the internet took from television: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/max-l-feldman-internet-television-flow-traffic/

A Brief History of Flow | Los Angeles Review of Books

What the internet learned from television.

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"A world too austere for art is impoverished in more than one sense." @scottwstern.bsky.social on the field of fictional character biographies: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/fictional-character-biographies-shakespeare-margaret-hannibal-juliet-bigger/