Susan Sontag biography

Synopsis

Susan Sontag was born on January 16, 1933, in New York City. In 1964, she gained recognition for her essay “Notes on Camp.” She directed her own film, Duet for Cannibals, in 1969. Her critical essays On Photography (1976) and Illness as Metaphor (1978) only increased her popularity, as did her novels The Volcano Lover (1992) and In America (2000). Sontag died on December 28, 2004 in New York City.

Early Life

Critic and writer Susan Sontag was born on January 16, 1933 in New York City, New York. 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.

Career Highlights

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).