Susan Sontag Biography

Quick Facts

NAME: Susan Sontag
OCCUPATION: Scholar, Women's Rights Activist, Anti-War Activist, Academic Author, Journalist
BIRTH DATE: January 16, 1933
DEATH DATE: December 28, 2004
EDUCATION: University of Chicago, Harvard University, Oxford College

PLACE OF BIRTH: New York City, New York
PLACE OF DEATH: New York City, New York

more about Susan

Best Known For

Susan Sontag was an American author, literary theorist, public intellectual and political activist. On Photography is one of her most famous works.

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Susan Sontag

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Susan Sontag. (2012). Biography.com. Retrieved 05:05, May 27, 2012 from http://www.biography.com/people/susan-sontag-9488814

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Susan Sontag [Internet]. 2012. http://www.biography.com/people/susan-sontag-9488814, May 27

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" Susan Sontag." 2012. Biography.com 27 May 2012, 05:05 http://www.biography.com/people/susan-sontag-9488814

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' Susan Sontag', Biography.com,(2012) http://www.biography.com/people/susan-sontag-9488814 [accessed May 27, 2012]

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" Susan Sontag," Biography.com, http://www.biography.com/people/susan-sontag-9488814 (accessed May 27, 2012).

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Susan Sontag [Internet]. Biography.com; 2012 [cited 2012 May 27]. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/susan-sontag-9488814.

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Susan Sontag, http://www.biography.com/people/susan-sontag-9488814 (last visited May 27, 2012).

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Susan Sontag, http://www.biography.com/people/susan-sontag-9488814 (last visited May 27, 2012).

Synopsis

Critic and writer Susan Sontag was born in New York City in 1933. She took degrees from the University of Chicago and Harvard, then did postgraduate work at Oxford before settling in New York City to teach and write. She first gained attention with her essay, ‘Notes on Camp’ (1964) and is best known for her critical essays and cultural analyses such as On Photography and Against Interpretation.

Profile

Critic and writer, born in New York City, New York, USA. She grew up in Arizona and Los Angeles, took degrees from the University of Chicago and Harvard, then did postgraduate work at Oxford before settling in New York City to teach and write. She first gained attention with her essay, ‘Notes on Camp’ (1964), and went on to publish several novels including The Volcano Lover (1992) and In America (2000), but she is best known for her critical essays and cultural analyses such as On Photography (1976) and Illness as Metaphor (1978). She also directed her own film, Duet for Cannibals (1969). The nature of her concerns and writings have gained her the reputation as America's answer to ‘Continental intellectuals’. Her son by an early marriage, David Rieff, is the author of Los Angeles, Capital of the Third World (1991).