A powerful compilation of sixteen essays, written in the last years of the author's life, offers a series of reflections on her commitment to the power of literature, political activism, the resistance to injustice as an ethical duty, the problems of post-9/11 America, and the work of such diverse writers as Soviet novelist Leonid Tsypkin and Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer.Sontag's incisive intelligence, expressive brilliance, and deep curiosity about art, politics, and the writer's responsibility to bear witness have secured her place as one of the most important thinkers and writers of the twentieth century. This collection gathers sixteen essays and addresses written in the last years of Sontag's life, when her work was being honored on the international stage, which reflect on the personally liberating nature of literature, her deepest commitment, and on political activism and resistance to injustice as an ethical duty. She considers the works of writers, from the little-known Soviet novelist Leonid Tsypkin, who struggled and eventually succeeded in publishing his only book days before his death; to the greats, such asNadine Gordimer, who enlarge our capacity for moral judgment. Sontag also fearlessly addresses the dilemmas of post-9/11 America, from the degradation of our political rhetoric to the appalling torture of prisoners in Abu Ghraib.--From publisher description.A compilation of sixteen essays, written in the last years of the author's life, offers reflections on her commitment to the power of literature, the resistance to injustice as an ethical duty, and the problems of post-9/11 America.
