• An Open Letter to LARB Supporters from William Giraldi

    IN AN INSPIRED ESSAY on Baudelaire, the great critic James Huneker made an assertion I’ve never succeeded in shaking free, …

    Another Dozen China Gift Book Ideas (This Time to Buy for Yourself)

    I recently joined with three other “China Blog” contributors to compile a list of 12 gift suggestions for readers seeking …

    Best Television GIFS of 2013

    Phil: Mad Men  I WON’T BELABOR this, because DearTV covered it at length in the spring, but this was a …

    Ambassador of Love

    By Victoria Patterson My brother and I grew up in a family prone to tragic holidays, but now with families …

    Year-End Free Skate: Best Endings, Worst Ending, Best Episode

    PHIL: Best Episode Ending (Also, Best Musical Cue, Best Shocking Violence) Game of Thrones S3.E3 Spoilers, okay? I DON’T KNOW if …

    Casino Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics

    By Tong Lam Macao has long been known as the “Las Vegas of the East” and the “Monte Carlo of …

    The Year in Television: Favorite Performance

    Phil: KRISTEN SCHAAL as LOUISE in BOB’S BURGERS SO, HERE BEGINS our round-robin discussion of the year in television. Today we …

    Who would win in a fight between Bad Robot and Mutant Enemy?

    THERE IS NO QUESTION that two of the dominant forces in genre television right now are J.J. Abrams and Joss …

    Our Favorite Things

    Before becoming part of the LARB’s “China Blog” team (indeed, before that publication even began), several of the people who …

    The Christmas Movie: A Hate/Need Relationship

    Dear Television, HERE’S THE THING no one wants to admit about televised Christmas movies: they’re all horrible. Don’t get me …