In America A Novel [Paperback]

In Americais a kaleidoscopic portrait of America on the cusp of modernity. As she did in her enormously popular novelThe Volcano Lover, Susan Sontag casts a story located in the past in a fresh, provocative light to create a fictional world full of contemporary resonance.

In 1876 a group of Poles led by Maryna Zalezowska, Poland's greatest actress, emigrate to the United States and travel to California to found a utopian commune. When the commune fails, Maryna stays, learns English, andas Marina Zalenskaforges a new, even more triumphant career on the American stage, becoming a diva on par with Sara Bernhardt.

In Americais about many things: a woman's search for self-transformation; the fate of idealism; a life in the theater; the many varieties of love; and, not least of all, stories and storytelling itself. Operatic in the scope and intensity of the emotions it depicts, richly detailed and visionary in its account of America, and peopled with unforgettable characters.

In Americais the winner of the 2000 National Book Award for Fiction.

Susan Sontagis the author of four novels,The Benefactor, Death Kit, The Volcano LoverandIn America; I, Etcetera, a collection of stories; several plays; and five works of nonfiction, among themIllness as a MetaphorandAIDS and Its Metaphors. In 2001 she was awarded the Jerusalem Prize for the body of her work.

Often brave and beautiful . . . The scope of the take is vast, and there is a largesse in the telling, the sheer happiness of art. ButIn Americais also an intimate portrait of a willful woman who, like the liner which brings her to America, trails a great wake behind her . . . In this novel about Poland and America, acting and living, transformation and respiration, Susan Sontag has indeed found a story that tells many stories with elan, intelligence and delight. Richard Lourie, Washington Post Book World

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