Illness As Metaphor And AIDS And Its Metaphors - Softcover

Sontag, Susan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0385267053 ISBN 13: 9780385267052

Publisher: Anchor Books, 1990

Synopsis

Brimming with humane and original ideas about a  disease and the modern condition, this classic  essay and its sequel -- written 10 years later -- are  compassionate exhortations and a liberating event.  "Taken together, the two essays are an exemplary  demonstration of the power of the intellect in the  face of the lethal metaphors of fear." --  The Nation

About this title

Review:

"Susan Sontag's "Illness as Metaphor "was the first to point out the accusatory side of the metaphors of empowerment that seek to enlist the patient's will to resist disease. It is largely as a result of her work that the how-to health books avoid the blame-ridden term 'cancer personality' and speak more soothingly of 'disease-producing lifestyles' . . . "AIDS and Its Metaphors "extends her critique of cancer metaphors to the metaphors of dread surrounding the AIDS virus. Taken together, the two essays are an exemplary demonstration of the power of the intellect in the face of the lethal metaphors of fear."--Michael Ignatieff, "The New Republic"

From the Back Cover:

'One of the most liberating books of our time' Newsweek

When diagnosed with breast cancer Susan Sontag discovered the extent to which we have developed a mythology to cope with disease, which can often distort the truth about illness and isolate the patient. In Illness as Metaphor she stripped away the myths and presented the true significance of disease as it has affected cultures throughout the centuries. AIDS and Its Metaphors extended her critique to examine the metaphors surrounding AIDS and to expose the truth, free of guilt, shame and fear.

'Whatever Sontag writes is passionate ... hers is the satirist's pity for our ignorance and folly' Jonathan Keates, Observer

'An exemplary demonstration of the power of the intellect in the face of the lethal metaphors of fear' Michael Ignatieff, New Republic

About this edition

• Publisher: Anchor Books
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0385267053
• ISBN 13: 9780385267052
• Binding: Paperback