the difference between a story and a painting or photograph

October 13, 2023 7:39 AM

From 1986, Susan Sontag's short story "The Way We Live Now." (SL New Yorker) (I only just came across this story yesterday and loved it and thought I would share it with you.)
posted by mittens (3 comments total)

Songated
posted by chavenet at 7:48 AM on October 13, 2023 [1 favorite]

Sontag is really underrated as a short story writer. I have a collection of her complete short stories, and they’re never less than interesting, and though she has her faults as an author, as a rule the flaws are interesting in their own right. If you like the Way We Live Now, I’d recommend getting a copy from your local bookshop.
posted by Kattullus at 8:34 AM on October 13, 2023 [4 favorites]

The thing that struck me most, was that they mention saying the name of the disease in the story. But the name of the disease is not in the story itself. The oppressive weight of taboo.
posted by notoriety public at 9:31 AM on October 13, 2023 [2 favorites]