Notes on Sontag - Phillip Lopate

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Résumé :
Lopate and Sontag are an inspired pairing. Lopate has just the right distance on Sontag--neither sycophant nor peer--to write trenchantly and sympathetically about her achievements, but he's also unsparing about her occasional idiocies. Some of the best things in the book are the personal vignettes about close encounters with Sontag, where Lopate stands in for the reader and fan, often getting burned in the process.--Christopher Benfey, Mount Holyoke College

One of Choice?s Outstanding Academic Titles for 2009 With the thoroughness and clarity of a latter-day Edmund Wilson and an urbanity and wit that are all his own, Phillip Lopate has given us, in the modest guise of these Notes, an extraordinarily rewarding study.--Rachel Hadas, Times Literary Supplement Notes on Sontag achieves a remarkable evenhandedness, caressing even as it kicks. The author gives ample credit where it's due, particularly when he champions Sontag's unparalleled aphoristic style and her essays. Throughout, Lopate, a beautiful and sometimes very funny writer, exudes a relaxed self-awareness about his own strengths and weaknesses, admitting, for instance, that he once sought Sontag's approval (she was an acquaintance). In the end, his toughness and self-knowledge actually enhance his praise. He takes Sontag seriously, and even if he finds her ridiculous at times, his persuasive prose makes it clear that he misses her: 'Sontag's best ruminations have a power and cohesion that merit countless revisitation, both to savor their insights and wonder how she did it.'--Time Out New York Lopate has produced an absolute gem of a book. In places personal (he knew Sontag for many years), but more often focused on the work itself--essays, fiction, films, reviews--this book stands as the best appreciation of Sontag in print and is an ideal introduction to this major American thinker.--Choice Lopate's book ... is a deeply personal study of an intellect and a provocative public figure. It is an excellent introduction to Sontag, a brief yet tantalizing piece of work for those inspired by, and those who wish to discover, her.--Anette Carter, Women?s News A reflection on both Sontag's specific oeuvre and literary life in general, Notes on Sontag. will reward both those who know Sontag's work well and those only beginning to make her acquaintance.--Jennifer Burns, Virginia Quarterly Review [T]he book offers a multifaceted, challenging and vivid picture of an elaborate personality--all conveyed through a very personal lens.--Mihaela Culea, European Legacy A multi-level monograph that deals with her life and writings together and takes a deep bite out of the cultural issues that Sontag's journals merely make a dent in, such as her ability to make a fictional character out of herself and in fact to build a whole narrative style without recourse to psychology. Lopate is also a clear and careful writer of prose.--George Fetherling, Vancouver Sun