The following articles were written for the Los Angeles Review of Books.
August 31, 2021
“A Stranger Steps into the House”: On Ashley Nelson Levy’s Immediate Family
Ryan Smernoff explores the boundaries of familial love in Immediate Family, a debut novel by Ashley Nelson Levy.
March 24, 2021
The Brockmeier Variations: A Parade of Spectral Phenomena in “The Ghost Variations”
Ryan Smernoff takes in The Ghost Variations, a new short story collection by Kevin Brockmeier.
July 21, 2020
Only the Fools: The Fable of Identity and Convention in Catherine Lacey’s Pew
A review of Pew, the latest novel from Catherine Lacey.
December 7, 2019
Kicking Down Doors: On Timothy J. Hillegonds’s The Distance Between
Ryan Smernoff reviews Timothy J. Hillegonds’s debut memoir, The Distance Between.
May 18, 2019
Voices Against the Wall: The Hilarious Terror of Karen Russell’s Orange World and Other Stories
Ryan Smernoff appreciates the many gems of Karen Russell’s Orange World and Other Stories.
May 4, 2019
Home Is Where the Heart Breaks: Abbigail N. Rosewood’s If I Had Two Lives
One of the grand illusions of great writing is the appearance of effortlessness, a quality that Abbigail Rosewood often achieves in If I Had Two Lives.
January 26, 2019
Pamphlets for Sale: How Sam Lipsyte’s Hark Will Save Us All
Ryan Smernoff listens in on Sam Lipsyte’s new satirical novel Hark, “a work of profane enchantment that comes with a full set of teeth.”
November 11, 2018
Fraught with Peril: On Lucia Berlin’s Evening in Paradise and Welcome Home
Ryan Smernoff greets the publication of Evening in Paradise: More Stories and Welcome Home by Lucia Berlin.
Ryan Smernoff 