Where the Stress Falls

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What to expect

Two decades of indispensable work by a great American writer—more than forty longer and shorter pieces that illustrate a deeply felt, kaleidoscopic array of interests, passions, observations, and ideas

Thirty-five years after her first collection, the classic Against Interpretation, America’s most important essayist chose more than forty longer and shorter pieces from the previous twenty years. “Reading,” the first of three sections, includes ardent pieces on writers from Sontag’s own private canon—Machado de Assis, Barthes, W. G. Sebald, Borges, Tsvetaeva, and Elizabeth Hardwick. In the second section, “Seeing,” she shares her passions for film, dance, photography, painting, opera, and theater. And in the final section, “There and Here,” Sontag explores her own commitments to the work (and activism) of conscience and to the vocation of the writer.

Critics Review

Where the Stress Falls raises the bar of criticism to the highest level…[Sontag’s] energy infuses every word in the collection.”

Seattle Times

“[Sontag] regroups the familiar and makes the eye fresh…She stands for what is articulate, independent, exploratory: for self as work in progress.”

Los Angeles Times Book Review

“There is no one quite like Sontag, and her many admirers will enjoy following up on her reading tips and engaging in debate with her via this book.”

Publishers Weekly

“Over twenty years of astute observations on culture, arts, and aesthetics…An attractive and interesting collection from an important cultural thinker.”

Library Journal

“Her criticism is art in its own right…A substantial and wonderfully musical collection that makes matters literary and artistic urgent and thrilling.”

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