false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171799113m/119675.jpg 119675 1 In this witty, erudite, and stylish study of two of the twentieth century's most influential cultural critics, Craig Seligman penned the sleeper success of last year. Not a dry ponderous "think piece," but a lively, highly readable examination of the work of both Susan Sontag and Pauline Kael, this walloping literary dust-up sizes up two writers who couldn't be more different in their style and approach.<P> Though outwardly Sontag and Kael had things in common-they were both Westerners who came east, both schooled in philosophy, both secular Jews, and both single mothers-they were polar opposites in temperament. Seligman approaches both women through their widely discussed work. Kael practiced a kind of verbal jazz, exuberant, excessive, intimate, emotional, and funny. Sontag is formal and rather icy. Moral questions obsess Sontag; they interested Kael but didn't trouble her. Then there's the matter of self-revelation. Under Sontag's aloofness smolders an impulse toward autobiography so strong it can be called confessional. Kael seems to be terribly forthcoming, and yet she turns out, when you peer more closely, to be surprisingly guarded.<P> Seligman considers both writers magnificent, and his exploration of their differences results in this luminously written landmark of criticism. In seeking to understand these two dissimilar icons, Seligman performs an unusual and remarkable feat: he confronts criticism as an art in itself. 115224 28 6 2005 Sontag & Kael: Opposites Attract Me total:27|5:7|4:9|3:10|2:0|1:1| 27 102 44 3 3 0 false false Tue Oct 07 20:40:52 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 07 20:40:56 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Feb 22 12:33:11 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 22 12:33:11 -0800 2008 ]]> 3 0 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 02 11:07:11 -0700 2008 Tue Jan 20 12:16:00 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Sat Oct 24 14:33:36 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 24 14:33:36 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Sep 14 04:45:15 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 14 04:45:15 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Sep 08 18:55:37 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 08 18:55:45 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Aug 10 10:01:53 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 10 10:01:53 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Jun 07 11:35:06 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 07 11:35:15 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Wed Jun 03 15:09:20 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 03 15:09:20 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun May 17 18:03:28 -0700 2009 Sun May 17 18:03:28 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri May 08 01:32:27 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 28 00:41:28 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Fri Mar 20 10:57:36 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 20 10:57:36 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Mar 15 10:49:13 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 15 10:49:13 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 01 14:25:00 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 01 14:52:37 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sat Dec 27 09:53:27 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 27 09:53:37 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Thu Dec 11 08:57:19 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 11 08:57:19 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Fri Nov 14 14:59:59 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 14 14:59:59 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Thu Oct 09 09:20:24 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 09 09:20:29 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Sat Aug 30 06:05:49 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 30 06:06:15 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Sat Apr 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Thu Jul 10 11:47:53 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 10 11:48:23 -0700 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=119675