“A spectre is haunting the world: 1914.” So writes Harold James, a professor of history [who is] certainly right that …
January 2014
Message From Ukraine
By Yuri Andrukhovych Dear Friends, These days I receive from you lots of inquiries requesting to describe the current situation in …
Journal of the Plague Season
ALTHOUGH THIS MAY seem counterintuitive, science fiction is often one of the most realistic of genres. It may set its …
India in China
By Tong Lam The relative absence of India in Chinese public discourse is an interesting curiosity. Indeed, while there has …
The McConnaissance: An Alternate Reading
Dear Television, IN EPISODE TWO of HBO’s stunning new series True Detective, the laconic Rust Cohle, played by Matthew McConaughey, …
The Future, As Seen on TV
In 1982, cultural critic Fredric Jameson published “Progress verses Utopia: or, Can We Imagine the Future” which argued against the …
The LARB Fiction Issue is Here!
The Los Angeles Review of Books presents a collection of original fiction from some of the most exciting contemporary authors …
Your Urine-Soaked Life
Dear Television, DEAR TV superfans may remember that I really liked the Natalia arc from last season. I liked the actress — …
Missing the Harmony Express
By Maura Elizabeth Cunningham “There is NOTHING,” I typed, “that makes me miss China more than dealing with @Amtrak. Our …
Space Invaders
THE THIRD SEASON of Girls opens with Hannah and Ray discussing the aftermath of a breakup in the show’s version of New …