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Cultural Criticism and AnalysisNovember 10, 2020
The Limits of the Viral Book Review
Why are literary critics fixating on one quality nowadays?
Larissa Pham
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FictionSeptember 8, 2020
C Pam Zhang’s Radical Retelling of Western Myths
Her novel How Much of These Hills Is Gold follows two Chinese American siblings’ quest to find home amidst the prejudice and danger of the frontier.
Larissa Pham
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Fine ArtDecember 11, 2019
Fast Days, Slow Company: The Art of Vija Celmins
An immersive retrospective of the Los Angeles painter’s work luxuriates in attention to detail.
Larissa Pham
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FictionJuly 30, 2019
Chia-Chia Lin’s Haunting Immigrant Novel
Set in a dreamlike Alaska, The Unpassing examines the hope and tragedy of a Taiwanese-American family.
Larissa Pham
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October 2, 2018
Ling Ma’s Disaster Fiction
Part sci-fi thriller, part genre-fiction, Severance follows a millennial New Yorker’s struggle to survive.
Larissa Pham
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Video ArtMarch 30, 2018
The Ubiquitous Medium
Carissa Rodriguez’s work leads viewers to scrutinize our choices and values as they relate to video—to recording and being recorded.
Larissa Pham
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Literary CriticismJanuary 29, 2018
A Bell With a Distant Ring
There is much to learn from Yasunari Kawabata’s final novel, even as—especially as—it gives rise to more questions than answers.
Larissa Pham
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Books and IdeasOctober 6, 2017
Carmen Maria Machado’s Earnest Vision
Her new fiction collection reminds us that a new, more inclusive world is possible.
Larissa Pham
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Literary CriticismJune 19, 2017
Mary Gaitskill Remains Open to Opposition
The closest thing we get to a precept in Somebody with a Little Hammer is that we should all try to learn to think for ourselves—and, even then, things can go wrong.
Larissa Pham
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PoetryJuly 29, 2016
What Breeds in ‘Standing Water’
Eleanor Chai’s poems require delving below the surface of each compact, enjambment-packed stanza, forcing the reader through a process of discovery not unlike Chai’s own origin story.
Larissa Pham