false 149029 7 <div>"A writer is someone who pays attention to the world," Susan Sontag said in her 2003 acceptance speech for the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, and no one exemplified this definition more than she. Sontag&#8217;s incisive intelligence, expressive brilliance, and deep curiosity about art, politics, and the writer&#8217;s responsibility to bear witness have secured her place as one of the most important thinkers and writers of the twentieth century. <i>At the Same Time </i>gathers sixteen essays and addresses written in the last years of Sontag&#8217;s life, when her work was being honored on the international stage, that 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 as Nadine 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.</div><div><i></i> </div><div><i>At the Same Time</i>, which includes a foreword by her son, David Rieff, is a passionate, compelling work from an American writer at the height of her powers, who always saw literature "as a passport to enter a larger life, the zone of freedom."</div> 888288 book 6 3 2007 At the Same Time: Essays and Speeches total:110|5:38|4:44|3:21|2:6|1:2| 110 438 212 17 5 1 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 12 05:32:28 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 12 05:38:38 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Aug 07 20:36:40 -0700 2007 Tue Aug 07 20:39:13 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Mon Sep 14 14:15:40 -0700 2009 Sun Jan 04 13:15:54 -0800 2009 Mon Sep 14 14:15:40 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Apr 07 12:58:19 -0700 2008 Mon Apr 07 13:05:08 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Oct 07 19:46:49 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 07 19:46:54 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 10 14:14:16 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 10 14:18:06 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jul 03 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 29 19:36:19 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 07 12:39:08 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Jan 31 14:17:44 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 03 20:09:38 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 31 14:17:44 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Wed Sep 09 01:58:13 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 09 01:58:36 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Fri May 09 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Dec 17 07:20:05 -0800 2007 Mon May 12 22:01:47 -0700 2008
I think the best part is the first section. I particularly liked the essays about Victor Serge and Anna Banti.

The section on 9/11 and its aftermath was also powerful.

I found the speeches uneven but definitely worthwhile.

If ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Jan 23 16:24:04 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 23 16:29:40 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 25 08:11:06 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 25 08:14:10 -0700 2007 3 0 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Jan 06 18:23:57 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 06 18:26:18 -0800 2008 2 0 false false Wed Feb 13 13:31:00 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 11 18:43:57 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 13 13:30:14 -0800 2008 1 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 24 11:48:12 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 24 11:49:54 -0800 2008
Avoid books by writers referred to/who refer to themselves as "intellectuals."]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 07 02:05:36 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 29 04:57:38 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 01 06:06:35 -0700 2008 Thu Feb 12 04:42:36 -0800 2009 1 0 false false Wed Mar 18 20:24:49 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 12 07:58:46 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sat Nov 07 19:41:06 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 07 19:41:06 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Mon Nov 02 05:29:44 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 02 05:29:44 -0800 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=774077