Report. Stories

The writer and critic Susan Sontag (1933–2004) became famous for her brilliant essays on art. But this is not the only literary genre that the main intellectual of the 20th century turned to. The collection "Report" is the most complete collection of Sontag's stories, first translated into Russian entirely. The writer's short prose varies from allegory to parable and autofiction. She boldly experiments with hybrids of genres, pastiches, elements of fantasy, ingeniously incorporating autobiographical material into the narrative. If essays for Sontag are a way to express thoughts, then stories are cries of the soul. Their plots are often contradictory, and situations sometimes impossible to resolve. In trying to make sense of deep experiences—her father's death, a friend's suicide, a serious diagnosis—she creates peculiar reports on the pages of the book. In these multifaceted, unexpected, and very personal texts, Sontag's talent reveals itself in a new light.