LA Review of Books
Summary: The Los Angeles Review of Books is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and disseminating rigorous, incisive, and engaging writing on every aspect of literature, culture, and the arts. The Los Angeles Review of Books magazine was created in part as a response to the disappearance of the traditional newspaper book review supplement, and, with it, the art of lively, intelligent long-form writing on recent publications in every genre, ranging from fiction to politics. The Los Angeles Review of Books seeks to revive and reinvent the book review for the internet age, and remains committed to covering and representing today’s diverse literary and cultural landscape.
- Visit Website
- RSS
- Artist: Los Angeles Review of Books
- Copyright: All rights reserved
Podcasts:
Cultural historian Leo Braudy joins Laurie Winer and Seth Greenland to discuss ISIS videos and the history of propaganda. Also the trio discuss a recent article, "What's Wrong with Public Intellectuals?" in The Chronicle of Higher Education; Michael Tolkin extols the virtues of his favorite book, The Professor's House by Willa Cather; another tale from the road from Literary Death Match founder Adrian Todd Zuniga.
LARB's Philosophy and Critical Theory editor Arne De Bouever speaks with Michael Marder, Ikerbasque Research Professor of Philosophy at the University of Basque Country. He is the author of the recent books The Philosopher's Plant and Pyropolitics.
Colin Marshall speaks with Alain Mabanckou, the Congolese-born author of such novels as African Psycho, Broken Glass, Memoirs of a Porcupine, Black Bazaar, Tomorrow I'll Be Twenty, and the coming The Lights of Pointe-Noire. His latest book translated into English, Letter to Jimmy, takes the form of a letter to his writing "mentor" James Baldwin on the twentieth anniversary of his death.
Joining us this week is cultural historian Leo Braudy to talk about a trend that he's noticed among award-winning acting performances. Also, author Judith Freeman drops by the studio to discuss literary tourism and her historical memoir about Raymond Chandler, The Long Embrace.
This week's topics include the news of a forthcoming book from reclusive 88-year-old author Harper Lee, the phenomenon of Fifty Shades of Grey, and the announcement of a new website for book lovers called Literary Hub. Also featuring new segments from Literary Death Match's Adrian Todd Zuniga and acclaimed poet Juan Felipe Herrera.
This week's segments include the latest in Alexandra Socarides's series The Poems (We Think) We Know, Juan Felipe Herrera reads a favorite poem from Matthew Lippman, and Literary Death Match's Adrian Todd Zuniga shares a story from the road. Plus Tom, Laurie and Seth rank literature's best first lines, and reflect on the the role of nostalgia in fiction.
Colin Marshall talks with Scott Timberg, editor of The Misread City: New Literary Los Angeles and author of Culture Crash: The Killing of the Creative Class, an examination of the damages to our cultural landscape wrought by recent technological and economic shifts and an argument for a more equitable and navigable future.
Debut episode of the Los Angeles Review of Books Radio Hour (actually a half hour, but we're aspirational). Join LARB founding editor Tom Lutz, fiction editor Laurie Winer, and author Seth Greenland every week for conversations about literature, arts and politics, along with interviews and critiques from today's leading writers and thinkers. This week's topics include the legacy of Hannah Arendt from a recent book by Bettina Stangneth, reading for pleasure via Charles Dickens, and the cult of modern noir writer James Ellroy. Also featuring contributions from Juan Felipe Herrera and Maria Bustillos. Subscribe to LARB's podcast, or tune in live on Wednesdays at 8pm (PST) on KPFK radio.
Colin Marshall talks with Tod Goldberg, author of such novels as Fake Liar Cheat and Living Dead Girl and several books based on the television series Burn Notice. His latest novel Gangsterland sends a ruthless Chicago mafia hitman out into the Jewish community of suburban Las Vegas, where he must start a new life under a new identity — the identity of a rabbi.
Bryan Stevenson is the executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama, and a professor of law at New York University Law School. He has won relief for dozens of condemned prisoners, argued five times before the Supreme Court, and won national acclaim for his work challenging bias against the poor and people of color. He has received numerous awards, including the MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Grant.
Colin Marshall talks with Mona Simpson, author of the novels Anywhere But Here, Off Keck Road and My Hollywood. Her latest is Casebook, a story of marriage, divorce, boyhood and surveillance, told as a text within a text and set in this most suitable city for detective stories, Los Angeles.
Colin Marshall goes to Toronto to talk with Craig Davidson, author most recently of Cataract City, a novel of boxing, wrestling, dogfighting, factory work, and friendship in Niagara Falls. In addition to the books published under his own name, which include Rust and Bone, The Fighter, and Sarah Court, he writes horror novels under the names Nick Cutter and Patrick Lestewka.
JSTOR recently launched "JSTOR Daily", providing public access to the strange and fascinating world of the academy in a beautiful, eclectic and intelligent publication. LARB contributor Maria Bustillos speaks with editor Catherine Halley.
Tom's Book Club: David Grand, author of Mount Terminus by LA Review of Books
Colin Marshall talks with Jim Ruland, founder of the Southern California-based reading series Vermin on the Mount and a columnist at Razorcake and San Diego CityBeat. He is the author of the short story collection Big Lonesome and the new novel Forest of Fortune, the story of three haunted souls — an alcoholic, an epileptic, and a gambling addict — who try to turn their luck around at a decrepit Indian casino.
