Hiding the Body: My Susan Sontag Story, by John Weir

Essay John Weir Adapted from a photo by Jake weirick on Unsplash Like a dead pop star, Susan Sontag left behind a lot of fans who claim they knew her. After the release last September of Benjamin Moser’s new biography, Susan Sontag: Her Life and Work, they were all over the internet, sharing stories. Writers, of course. Especially queer writers. Does every queer writer who lived in New York City and published a book sometime between 1960 and 2000 have a Sontag story? I do! Here’s mine: Eighteen years ago, shortly after she won the National Book Award for her fourth novel, In America, some of which she had been accused of plagiarizing, and a few months before she published, in the New Yorker, maybe the only response to the 9/11 attacks, in their immediate aftermath, that was worth considering, she was invited, along with John Updike and Norman Mailer, to read at Queens College CUNY, where I teach creative writing. Surely the most impressive trio of literary bigwigs of a certain era ever to read together in Flushing. Three idols. I had long regarded their work with awe and envy. In my early twenties, in the 1980s, in a studio apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, hot and airless in summer, frigid in winter, I read—eagerly, jealously—everything they wrote. I was an aspiring writer, and they were my workshop instructors and problematic literary parents. Updike’s Couples taught me how to do a party scene. Mailer’s An American... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'

[ World Literature Today | 2020-01-07 22:09:56 UTC ]
News tagged with: #moral imperative #gertrude stein #literary community #national book award

Other news stories related to: "Hiding the Body: My Susan Sontag Story, by John Weir"


Hiding the Body: My Susan Sontag Story, by John Weir

Essay John Weir Adapted from a photo by Jake weirick on Unsplash Like a dead pop star, Susan Sontag left behind a lot of fans who claim they knew her. After the release last September of Benjamin Moser’s new biography, Susan Sontag: Her Life and Work,... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2020-01-07 22:09:56 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #national book award #literary community #gertrude stein #moral imperative


9 Short Story Collections About Women’s Bodies

Short stories can do things novels cannot because they’re short. They’re limber and can dart in and out of close-fitting places. They can be weird and daring in ways that novels cannot always sustain. Joy Williams writes in, “8 Essential Attributes of the Short Story (and one way it differs from... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2024-03-28 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Choosing to Bear Witness: Writing the Story of a Body

My clearest memory of my freshman year of college takes place in the emergency room of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, where I was studying English Literature at Boston University and living on the eighteenth floor of Warren Towers, in Tower C, in a room with southern exposure. Despite... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-11-17 09:53:52 UTC ]
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“A Ghost Is a Memory.” On Bodies, Belief, and the Places Ghost Stories Live

The proprietor’s name is Amy (except that, of course, it isn’t). She’s a kind, petite woman in her forties, the owner of a ghost-themed bookstore in a small southern city. I won’t tell you which city. It’s for your own safety. This is, after all, a ghost story. And most importantly: it’s true.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-10-31 08:57:03 UTC ]
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Rep. John Lewis’s Life Story Continues in ‘Run: Book One’

'Run: Book One', a posthumous work by the late civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis, is the continuation of his National Book Award-winning graphic memoir The March trilogy. The book will be published by Abrams ComicArts in August 2021. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-03-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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John Edgar Wideman’s Stories Vividly Evoke Life in Pittsburgh and Many Other Places

“You Made Me Love You” collects short stories from throughout Wideman’s acclaimed career. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-03-26 20:23:09 UTC ]
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Canongate acquires story collection from John Edgar Wideman

Canongate is to publish a set of stories from US writer John Edgar Wideman, 40 years after the author released his first collection.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-20 14:47:16 UTC ]
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Tana French’s ‘The Searcher’ nods to John Ford’s famous Western with the story of a loner on the hunt for a lost teen

An American ex-cop looking to start over in the Irish countryside ends up uncovering a bog’s worth of secrets. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-10-05 15:08:57 UTC ]
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Macmillan: Don Weisberg To Succeed John Sargent as CEO; Susan Winslow Leads Learning

John Sargent departs as CEO of Macmillan on January 1, 2021 because of 'disagreements regarding the direction of Macmillan,' says Stefan von Holtzbrinck. The post Macmillan: Don Weisberg To Succeed John Sargent as CEO; Susan Winslow Leads Learning appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-09-17 15:16:05 UTC ]
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‘The Standardization of Demoralization Procedures’ is a story that John le Carré might have written for ‘The Twilight Zone’

Jennifer Hofmann’s debut novel follows a Stasi agent trying to make sense of his past. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-08-04 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Review: 'Children of the Land' chronicles an immigrant poet's story of hiding in plain sight

In his memoir 'Children of the Land,' poet Marcelo Hernandez Castillo writes of border journeys, family separation and crossing a 'threshold of invisibility.' Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-01-29 15:00:08 UTC ]
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John and Jessie Frémont’s story of gold, ambition and the American West

Steve Inskeep recounts the couple’s expeditions in the wilderness and in politics. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-01-24 02:35:38 UTC ]
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Revisiting American Short Stories Selected by John Updike

This week, Annalisa Quinn reviews John L’Heureux’s story collection “The Heart Is a Full-Wild Beast.” In 1984, L’Heureux wrote for the Book Review about “The Best American Short Stories 1984,” selected by John Updike. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-01-03 10:00:04 UTC ]
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6 Degrees of Separation: From Gabriel García Márquez to Susan Sontag

The book world can be a small one. We're playing a game of six degrees of separation, starting with Gabriel García Márquez, ending with Susan Sontag. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2019-09-26 10:41:27 UTC ]
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How Susan Sontag Influenced Patti Smith’s Reading Life

“She advised me to read more German authors,” says the writer and singer, whose latest memoir is “Year of the Monkey.” Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-09-05 09:00:00 UTC ]
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There’s a newly translated John Steinbeck story about a chef and his cat.

Long before funny cat content flooded every single corner of the internet, John Steinbeck, legendary dog person, was writing it for Le Figaro, proving once again that France gets all the good stuff before we do. Steinbeck wrote “The Amiable Fleas,” or “Les puces sympathiques,” in 1954 for Le... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-07-31 15:44:48 UTC ]
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Review: Susan Straight's new memoir amplifies stories of strong women who survive and thrive

Susan Straight's new memoir, "In the Country of Women," depicts the tough, trauma-burdened women who have populated her life. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-07-30 19:40:36 UTC ]
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Susan Orlean and readers share library stories at L.A. Times Book Club launch

In her research for "The Library Book," Susan Orlean was surprised to learn how many people call the Los Angeles Library on a daily basis with outlandish questions. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-06-26 21:09:36 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #times book #outlandish questions #daily basis #people call #library book #susan orlean


Susan Orlean and readers share library stories at L.A. Times Book Club launch

In her research for “The Library Book,” Susan Orlean was surprised to learn how many people call the Los Angeles Library on a daily basis with outlandish questions. Some people want help cheating on crossword puzzles. Others have more personal queries. “There is a guy who calls the library... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-06-26 20:35:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #times book #crossword puzzles #outlandish questions #daily basis #susan orlean #people call #library book


John Blake bags true story of Birmingham's Peaky Blinders

John Blake Publishing has bagged the true story behind Birmingham’s Peaky Blinders by Professor Carl Chinn. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-06-14 02:25:49 UTC ]
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