Follow-up to ‘Reborn : journals and notebooks, 1947-1963’ (2009), in a series of diaries from the late American critic and philosopher Susan Sontag (1933-2004), the second of three volumes of Susan Sontag's journals and notebooks. It traces and documents Sontag's evolution from fledgling participant in the artistic and intellectual world of New York City to world-renowned critic and dominant force in the world of ideas with the publication of ‘Against Interpretation’ in 1966.
This volume focuses on excerpts from the journal written during the first decade, 1973-1982, one of the most productive of Oates's career. The diary explores her friendship with other writers, like John Updike, Donald Barthelme, Susan Sontag, Gail Godwin, and Philip Roth, among others. Oates also describes her university teaching, her love of the natural world, her rural background, and her travels.