Critical Essay | Critical Review by Walter Goodman

Critical Review by Walter Goodman

SOURCE: Goodman, Walter. “Fair Game.” New Leader 65, no. 23 (13 December 1982): 9-10.

In the following review of A Susan Sontag Reader, Goodman studies the vehemence and political leanings of Sontag's essays throughout her career. Goodman asserts that Sontag is becoming less radical and extremist as she matures, detecting a more moderate stance in her views and writings.

Under the Sign of Sontag

Her position has been certified everywhere from Vogue to Rolling Stone. Readers of People magazine know her as “America's prima intellectual assoluta,” and she also holds the ambiguous title of “the Natalie Wood of the U.S. avant garde.” Yet the crowning of Susan Sontag as this country's exemplary intellectual remains a puzzlement. As A Susan Sontag Reader, her new collection of “the work I'm proudest of,” confirms, she is more akin to a species of European intelligentsia than to any homegrown strain, and has no great affection for American society.

Sontag...
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