Writing
Along with Albert Wu, I write a newsletter, A Broad and Ample Road.
Below you’ll find a selection of other writing.
Cobra Kai, the Twilight of American Empire, and the Allure of Paramilitary Violence
On the thin line between victim and victimiser, and humiliation as an origin of paramilitary violence.
On the thin line between victim and victimiser, and humiliation as an origin of paramilitary violence.
Los Angeles Review of Books
Letter from Paris
On teaching in Paris after the November attacks.
On teaching in Paris after the November attacks.
Los Angeles Review of Books
Those Who Leave
On Elena Ferrante and the stranglehold of twentieth-century ideologies.
On Elena Ferrante and the stranglehold of twentieth-century ideologies.
The Point
I Dare Not: The Muted Style of Writer in Exile Ha Jin
On the Chinese trope of the exiled scholar-hero, and where Ha Jin fits.
On the Chinese trope of the exiled scholar-hero, and where Ha Jin fits.
Los Angeles Review of Books
“Take the Good Life and Be Happy”: On “The Americans”
On whether ideology can win against the comfort of intimacy.
On whether ideology can win against the comfort of intimacy.
Los Angeles Review of Books
Animal Feelings
On orcas, elephants, apes, the lawsuit against SeaWorld, and how animals grieve.
On orcas, elephants, apes, the lawsuit against SeaWorld, and how animals grieve.
Public Books
Scientology: The Mystery Sandwich
On Scientology, Tolstoy, and the highs and lows of religious faith.
On Scientology, Tolstoy, and the highs and lows of religious faith.
Los Angeles Review of Books
Imperfect Strollers: Teju Cole, Ben Lerner, W.G. Sebald, and the Alienated Cosmopolitan
On the twenty-first-century flâneur, dislocated and wayward.
On the twenty-first-century flâneur, dislocated and wayward.
Los Angeles Review of Books
In Hell, “We Shall Be Free”: On “Breaking Bad”
On evil and liberty, with Walter White as Milton's Satan. Selected by LARB as one of its best television pieces.
On evil and liberty, with Walter White as Milton's Satan. Selected by LARB as one of its best television pieces.
Los Angeles Review of Books
Marilynne Robinson and the Miraculous Privilege of Existence
On Robinson's world of quietly radical encounters.
On Robinson's world of quietly radical encounters.
Los Angeles Review of Books