“Nothing is mysterious, no human relation. Except
love.”
HAPPY UPDATE: We’ve released a sequel, Susan Sontag on art, with proceeds benefiting A Room of Her Own, a foundation supporting women
writers and artists.
The recently released volume of Susan Sontag’s
diaries, As Consciousness Is Harnessed
to Flesh: Journals and Notebooks, 1964-1980(public library), is a treasure trove of insight — on writing, on censorship, on aphorisms — from
the deepest corners of one of the greatest minds in modern history. But besides
her extraordinary intellect, what made Sontag a force of nature was also her
complex and ever-evolving emotional perception, brimming with extreme
self-awareness and keen reflection on her relationships with others.
I sieved Sontag’s journals for her most poignant, most private meditations
on love — candid, vulnerable, hopeful, hopeless — and asked artist
extraordinaire Wendy MacNaughton to
hand-letter and illustrate them exclusively for Brain Pickings. Enjoy.
HAPPY UPDATE 2: By popular demand, since
the original signed limited edition was gone so fast, a new unlimited edition
of this print is now available. A portion of the proceeds benefit A Room of Her Own, a foundation
supporting women artists and writers.
HAPPY UPDATE 1: After countless
requests, we’ve made available a limited-edition 8″x26″ high-quality
print of the artwork on heavy
cotton rag paper with deckled edges, signed and numbered. Enjoy.
As Consciousness Is Harnessed
to Flesh: Journals and Notebooks, 1964-1980 is superb and revealing in its entirety — impossible to recommend
enough. See more of MacNaughton’s fantastic work her site.
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