Nonfiction

"There is nothing more poetic and terrible than the skyscrapers' battle with the heavens that cover them." — Federico García Lorca

America’s War on Theater
Daniel Blank reviews James Shapiro’s “The Playbook: A Story of Theater, Democracy, and the Making of a Culture War.”
Daniel BlankJul 22
The “Empty” Is Always Already Inhabited
Elvia Wilk interviews Jennifer Kabat about her new book, “The Eighth Moon: A Memoir of Belonging and Rebellion.”
Elvia WilkJul 18
Reconfiguring the Categories
Yelena Furman reviews Karolina Krasuska’s “Soviet-Born: The Afterlives of Migration in Jewish American Fiction.”
Yelena FurmanJul 15
- Nonfiction
- Literary Criticism
Poor Reading, Weak Theory: An Excerpt from “The Amateur”
LARB presents an excerpt from Saikat Majumdar’s “The Amateur: Self-Making and the Humanities in the Postcolony.”
Saikat MajumdarJul 9
Lyrical Silicone
Cristóbal Riego explores the hybrid nonfiction writings of Chilean author Pedro Lemebel.
Cristóbal RiegoJul 7
It Hurts To See Them Go
Kate Sadoff reviews Jonathan Vigliotti’s “Before It’s Gone: Stories from the Front Lines of Climate Change in Small-Town America.”
Kate SadoffJul 4
- Memoir & Essay
- Nonfiction
Junk and Underwear: Fabrication and Factography in the Soviet Union
Wendi Bootes examines the contradictory nature of facts through an assessment of Soviet factography, in an excerpt from LARB Quarterly no. 41, “Truth...
Wendi BootesJul 3
- LARB Lit
- Nonfiction
A Reactionary Turn in Literary Studies: On Jonathan Kramnick’s “Criticism and Truth”
Elizabeth S. Anker reviews Jonathan Kramnick’s “Criticism & Truth: On Method in Literary Studies.”
Elizabeth S. AnkerJun 28
- Nonfiction
The Ethnography of Deep Suffering: On Angela Garcia’s “The Way That Leads Among the Lost”
Ieva Jusionyte reviews Angela Garcia’s “The Way That Leads Among the Lost: Life, Death, and Hope in Mexico City’s Anexos.”
Ieva JusionyteJun 27
- Nonfiction
Cupcakes and Crotch Kicks: On Alex Belth’s “What Makes Sammy Jr. Run?”
Tom Zoellner considers the eternal game of cat and mouse between celebrities and journalists in Alex Belth’s “What Makes Sammy Jr. Run? Classic...
Tom ZoellnerJun 24
Eloquent Contentiousness: On “Farnsworth’s Classical English Argument”
Bryan Garner reviews Ward Farnsworth’s “Classical English Argument,” exposing flaws, foibles, and fallacies employed by English language writers.
Bryan A. GarnerJun 22
- Law
- Nonfiction
House of Cards: On Sean H. Vanatta’s “Plastic Capitalism”
Carey Mott reviews Sean H. Vanatta’s “Plastic Capitalism: Banks, Credit Cards, and the End of Financial Control.”
Carey MottJun 21
- Nonfiction
- Politics