The National Library says it is ‘making room for more New Zealand and Pacific stories’ and hopes the books it’s purging might ‘spark joy’ for other people. David Larsen considers it a whacking great clear-cutting. It would be irresponsible for me to tell you the National Library is about to burn six hundred thousand of … Read more
Film critic David Larsen admits his strategy to urge audiences to see Hunger failed, and pleads you to see another movie called Hunger, without recourse to hammer analogies I once opened a film review by suggesting that instead of investing fifteen dollars in the price of a ticket, readers could spend the same amount on … Read more
The NZ Film Festival opens in Auckland on July 19, a week later in Wellington, and then through the country. David Larsen and a team of obsessive cinephiles will be filing capsule reviews for the Spinoff once we’re under way. But first, David offers his advice on navigating the programme A few years ago my … Read more
Auckland reviewer David Larsen selects the blockbuster Barrowman bio as his best of the year, and then journeys into the genre of sci-fi and fantasy and that. No question, my book of 2015 was Maurice Gee: Life and Work, by Rachel Barrowman. Long years of research and thought went into this: so often fatal. But … Read more
A publisher paid an unknown author a US$2m advance for his first novel. How come it’s complete fucking junk? It’s a bad sign when you sit down to write about a book and discover you’d much rather write about set theory. Especially if you know nothing about set theory. Garth Risk Hallberg’s grandly titled City … Read more
One of the most important TV shows right now – Orphan Black – might turn out to be a hollow disappointment, but it still makes for essential viewing. David Larsen explains why. Here is one of my favourite pop culture images from the last ten years. It has nothing and everything to do with Orphan … Read more