In America

Susan Sontag · 1933–2004 · United States

Why it matters

A celebrated Polish actress emigrates to found a utopian farming commune in California before returning, disillusioned, to the stage that made her famous, narrated with the same essayistic digressions as Sontag's criticism. Her National Book Award winner closed a career built on genre-dissolving intelligence.

At a glance

Essayistic digressions and a shifting narrative voice interrupt the historical plot's momentum deliberately.