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True Life: I Called Off My Wedding
In an excerpt from LARB Quarterly no. 41, “Truth,” Sarah Yanni accounts for what she left behind when she called off her wedding—and what she...
Featured Artist
Sanaa Gateja
Arise (2023), paper beads on barkcloth, 57 7/8 x 66 1/8 inches; Granary (2023), paper beads on barkcloth, 75 x 64 1/2 inches. Images courtesy of Karma and Sanaa Gateja.
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It Was Me and Not Me All the Time: A Conversation with Eileen Myles
Lydia Eno interviews Eileen Myles for the 30th anniversary of “Chelsea Girls.”
Authoritarian Media: On Peter Pomerantsev’s “How to Win an Information War”
Peter B. Kaufman reviews Peter Pomerantsev’s “How to Win an Information War: The Propagandist Who Outwitted Hitler.”
Toward a Black Alternative Media: On Robeson Taj Frazier’s “KAOS Theory”
Jamal Batts reviews Robeson Taj Frazier’s “KAOS Theory: The Afrokosmic Ark of Ben Caldwell.”
The Past Is Never Dead: On TV’s Backstory Problem
Elizabeth Alsop explores the ubiquity—and limitations—of the “trauma backstory.”
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Hone your craft in 6-week writing workshops with award-winning writers and expert teachers
Announcing a new series of LARB Workshops this May with Nadja Spiegelman, Hannah Assadi, and Callie Siskel. Registration closes on April 28 at 11:59 p.m. PST.
Enroll now
The LARB Quarterly
LARB Quarterly, no. 40: Water
Subscribe to get LARB Quarterly, no. 40: “Water” featuring Terry Nguyen, Dorie Chevlen, Jayson Buford, Kim Gordon, Olivia Heal, and more!
LARB Radio Hour
The Veteranos of East LA
Scholar Randol Contreras joins Kate Wolf and Eric Newman to discuss his new book “The Marvelous Ones: Drugs, Gang Violence, and Resistance in East...
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I Understand Thee, and Can Speak Thy Tongue: California Unlocks Shakespeare’s Gibberish
The Funny Thing About Misogyny
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Muckraking Mountains of Manure: On Austin Frerick’s “Barons”
Devin Thomas O’Shea reviews Austin Frerick’s “Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food.”
A Past That Must Be Denied: Borges in Japan
Ryan Shea revisits Guillermo Gasió’s 1988 anthology “Borges en Japon, Japon en Borges.”
My Book Is a Trauma Plot: A Conversation Between Geoffrey Mak and Whitney Mallett
Whitney Mallett talks with Geoffrey Mak about his new book “Mean Boys: A Personal History” and trauma plot trends in recent writing.
Stacked Time: On April Gibson’s “The Span of a Small Forever” and Alice Notley’s “Being Reflected Upon”
Heather Treseler reviews April Gibson’s “The Span of a Small Forever” and Alice Notley’s “Being Reflected Upon.”
A Transatlantic Metamorphosis: On Brian K. Goodman’s “The Nonconformists”
Ian Ellison reviews Brian K. Goodman’s “The Nonconformists: American and Czech Writers Across the Iron Curtain.”
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Short Takes
Melody from Noise
Copydesk chief A. J. Urquidi ponders urban doom loops, world peace, and sacred riffage at the Helmet and Cro-Mags show in Los Angeles.
Perfectly Acceptable Adult Rage
Emily VanKoughnett cuts through the exquisite bullshit and watches Mannequin Pussy create a kind of heaven at the Fonda Theatre.
IKEA Panacea
Emily Ann Zisko discovers a cure-all for commercialism, consumerism and c-loneliness at the Burbank IKEA residency exhibition.
Being Free, Being Faithful, Being Responsible for Extinction
Kate Sadoff, surrounded by fruiting L.A. bodies, ponders the fungus among us at Jennifer Croft’s “Extinction of Irena Rey” reading in Brentwood.
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LARB Radio Hour
LARB Radio Hour
The Veteranos of East LA
Scholar Randol Contreras joins Kate Wolf and Eric Newman to discuss his new book “The Marvelous Ones: Drugs, Gang Violence, and Resistance in East...
LARB Radio Hour
Mother Tongues and Mother Dolls
A double-header episode about two new novels that each feature high stakes feats of translation.
LARB Radio Hour
Victoria Chang on Finding Agnes Martin During Crisis
Kate Wolf speaks with the poet Victoria Chang about her latest collection of poems, “With My Back to the World.”
LARB Radio Hour
Morgan Neville’s “STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces”
Eric Newman speaks with director Morgan Neville about his new film “STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces.”
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The LARB Quarterly
LARB Quarterly, no. 40: Water
Subscribe to get LARB Quarterly, no. 40: “Water” featuring Terry Nguyen, Dorie Chevlen, Jayson Buford, Kim Gordon, Olivia Heal, and more!...:quality(75)/https%3A%2F%2Fdev.lareviewofbooks.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2023%2F12%2FLARB40_D2_Cover-1.jpg)