Sontag. She is one of the few public intellectuals who require no first name to identify, to draw forth an image: the leather jacket, the salt-and-pepper hair, the confident glance into the camera. But while most have at least heard of her renowned 1964 essay “Notes on Camp,” how many can say they truly understand what made Susan Sontag tick? A chronicle of both her writing and her often prickly relationships, Benjamin Moser’s biography unpacks the world of a fiercely proud but also insecure intellectual, often more humane in her connection to the broader society than to the individuals surrounding her. Sontag ensures that one of the twentieth century’s leading thinkers is remembered in all her messy complexity.
Sontag: Her Life and Work, by Benjamin Moser. Published by Ecco / HarperCollins. The editor is Daniel Halpern and the agent is Bill Clegg. Sontag is a finalist for the Publishing Triangle’s Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction; the winner will be announced on April 30.