Who is criticism for?
Seth Rogen’s protest against bad reviews misunderstands the role of the critic in the fight against mediocrity.
By
Lola Seaton
Lola Seaton is an associate editor at New Left Review and a contributing writer at the New Statesman.
Latest articles
All Articles
Reviewed in short: New books from Geoff Mulgan, CJ Hauser, Matt Rowland Hill and Hans Fallada
Another World Is Possible by Mulgan, The Crane Wife by Hauser, Original Sins by Rowland Hill and Lilly and…
By
Why I haven’t been watching the 2022 Women’s Euros
I was a devoted footballer as a child, often the only girl on the team. So why can’t I…
By
Édouard Louis: “I dream of a world without politics”
The French literary celebrity on shame, autobiography and why his family abandoned the far right.
By
Reviewed in short: New books from Sophie Pavelle, Brendan Simms and Steven McGregor, Ana Kinsella and Gerald Murnane
Forget Me Not by Pavelle, The Silver Waterfall by Simms and McGregor, Look Here by Kinsella and Last Letter…
By
Geoff Dyer and the art of slacking off
The author’s workshy alter-egos made his books a delight. Now in sober late middle age, has the ultimate skiver…
By
Reviewed in Short: New titles from Kris Manjapra, Karolina Ramqvist and Emilie Pine
Black Ghost of Empire by Manjapra, Bear Woman by Ramqvist, Deep Deception by Alison, Belinda, Helen Steel, Lisa and…
By
Who is to blame for 30 years of climate change inertia?
Two new books trace the history of global inaction over the climate emergency, and seek to identify the culprits.
By
Reviewed in short: New books by Fernanda Melchor, Francis Young, Colin Barrett and Symeon Brown
Paradais by Melchor, Magic in Merlin's Realm by Young, Homesickness by Barrett and Get Rich or Lie Trying by…
By