At the Same Time: Essays and Speeches
Starred Review.Literature and politics are inextricably intertwined and unified by  moral purpose in this powerful collection of pieces (a couple not previously  published in English or at all) by iconic critic and novelist Sontag (Regarding the Pain of Others), who died in 2004.  Sontag was a dedicated champion of literature in translation, and the book  opens with several introductions to such works, led off by a meditation on  beauty. The section might have been called "Art and Ardor," so laced is it with  artistic passion, both Sontag's own and that of the writers she celebrates,  such as Leonid Tsypkin and Anna Banti. Part three contains speeches Sontag gave  in accepting the Jerusalem Prize and other awards, and honoring others whose  moral courage she admired. But most striking is to re-read the pieces she wrote  in the wake of 9/11 and the Abu Ghraib scandal, which constitute the book's  middle section. Sontag's controversial attack on the Bush administration  immediately after 9/11 may have been an act of courage or of folly, but from a  distance of five years, her critique seems on the mark. Sontag's brilliance as  a literary critic, her keen analytical skill and her genius for the searingly  apt phrase (like her damning "the photographsareus" in relation to the Abu Ghraib photos) are all  fiercely displayed here.(Mar. 6)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.