Two decades of indispensable work by a great American writer—more than forty longer and shorter pieces that illustrate a deeply felt, kaleidoscopic array of interests, passions, observations, and ideas
Thirty-five years after her first collection, the classic Against Interpretation, America’s most important essayist chose more than forty longer and shorter pieces from the previous twenty years. “Reading,” the first of three sections, includes ardent pieces on writers from Sontag’s own private canon—Machado de Assis, Barthes, W. G. Sebald, Borges, Tsvetaeva, and Elizabeth Hardwick. In the second section, “Seeing,” she shares her passions for film, dance, photography, painting, opera, and theater. And in the final section, “There and Here,” Sontag explores her own commitments to the work (and activism) of conscience and to the vocation of the writer.
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“Over twenty years of astute observations on culture, arts, and aesthetics…An attractive and interesting collection from an important cultural thinker.”
— Library Journal
“Where the Stress Falls raises the bar of criticism to the highest level…[Sontag’s] energy infuses every word in the collection.”
— Seattle Times“[Sontag] regroups the familiar and makes the eye fresh…She stands for what is articulate, independent, exploratory: for self as work in progress.”
— Los Angeles Times Book Review“There is no one quite like Sontag, and her many admirers will enjoy following up on her reading tips and engaging in debate with her via this book.”
— Publishers Weekly“Her criticism is art in its own right…A substantial and wonderfully musical collection that makes matters literary and artistic urgent and thrilling.”
— BooklistBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Susan Sontag (1933–2004) was born in Manhattan and studied at the universities of Chicago, Harvard, and Oxford. She is the author of four novels, a collection of stories, several plays, and six books of essays, among them Against Interpretation and On Photography. Her books are translated into thirty-two languages. In 2001 she was awarded the Jerusalem Prize for the body of her work, and in 2003 she received the Prince of Asturias Prize for Literature and the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade.
Tavia Gilbert is an acclaimed narrator of more than four hundred full-cast and multivoice audiobooks for virtually every publisher in the industry. Named the 2018 Voice of Choice by Booklist magazine, she is also winner of the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. She has earned numerous Earphones Awards, a Voice Arts Award, and a Listen-Up Award. Audible.com has named her a Genre-Defining Narrator: Master of Memoir. In addition to voice acting, she is an accomplished producer, singer, and theater actor. She is also a producer, singer, photographer, and a writer, as well as the cofounder of a feminist publishing company, Animal Mineral.