Susan Sontag (1933-2004) spoke of the promiscuity of art and literature mdash;the willingness of great artists and writers to scandalize their spectators through critical frankness; complexity; and beauty. Sontags life and thought were no less promiscuous. She wrote deeply and engagingly about a range of subjects mdash;theater; sex; politics; novels; torture; and illness mdash;and courted celebrity and controversy both publicly and privately. Throughout her career; she not only earned adulation but also provoked scorn. Her living was the embodiment of scandal.In this collection; Terry Castle; Nancy K. Miller; Wayne Koestenbaum; E. Ann Kaplan; and other leading scholars revisit Sontags groundbreaking life and work. Against Interpretation; "Notes on Camp;" Letter from Hanoi; On Photography; Illness as Metaphor; I; Etcetera; and The Volcano Lover mdash;these works form the center of essays no less passionate and imaginative than Sontag herself. Debating questions raised by the thinkers own images and identities; including her sexuality; these works question Sontags status as a female intellectual and her parallel interest in ambitious and prophetic fictional women; her ambivalence toward popular culture; and her personal and professional "scandals." Paired with rare photographs and illustrations; this timely anthology expands our understanding of Sontags images and power.
#4006341 in eBooks 2012-04-24 2012-04-24File Name: B006NYCUN2
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