SUSAN SONTAG: THE MAKING OF AN ICON

New York City, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, 2000. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. Fine/Fine Dust Jacket.. New York City, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, 2000. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Edition/First Printing. 370 pages. Pioneering biography on subject. One of the most fascinating literary biographies of our time. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Carl Rollyson's and Lisa Paddock's "Susan Sontag: The Making of An Icon". A gossip-filled account on the life and (some of the) work of the iconic American intellectual/writer of our time. Sontag did not endorse or cooperate with the project, indeed tried to derail and suppress it. As such, it is not surprising because the relatively short book is filled with juicy, sometimes salacious, potentially libelous anecdotal material. At the same time, it is, paradoxically, a genuinely admiring homage to Sontag's ambition, achievement, and unique place in American literature. One of Sontag's concerns about the book was that she was still very much alive at the time of its publication, fully expected to live and produce great work a little while longer (she died four years later, in 2004 at the relatively young age of 71) , and rightly felt that every biography, especially that of a living person, casts a posthumous shadow, however inadvertent, over its subject. Nonetheless, she comes across in this inaugural biography as The Real Thing, a celebrity who was also a serious thinker, lived a full life celebrating the diversions and play of the mind. Celebrities, bar none, are superficial if not downright vacant, in our Social Media Age more so than ever. Sontag, flaws and all, engaged others because what she had to say was important, enriching, and enduring. An absolute "must-have" title for Susan Sontag collectors. This title is now collectible. This is one of few copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce copy thus. Winner of the MacArthur Genius Grant, the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1977 for "On Photography", the National Book Award in 2000 for "In America", and the Jerusalem Prize in 2001. Shimon Peres, in awarding the Jerusalem Prize, described Sontag as "one of the world's finest writers and greatest minds". One of the most influential and important writer-intellectuals of the 20th century. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER SUSAN SONTAG TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0393049280.