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December 5, 2005

Susan Sontag's Desk

Susan Sontag's son, David Rieff, recently wrote an article in the New York Times Magazine that included this picture.Susan Sontag's Desk

There are a number of interesting things to see here: a library full of books, book boxes, presumably full of books, fountain pen ink, a letter holder, gobs of post-its, which mainly contain phone numbers, and a computer. This is all about intense information. One gets the sense the computer was a productive tool, synthesizing information gleaned from all the other sources (books and personal conversations) and she prized the ability to get thoughts directly out of her mind when pen-and-ink writing was required because fountain pens, without a ball and with thin ink, create a very intimate and permanent connection between the author's eye-brain-hand system and the recording media. I particularly like the ladder, which indicates books where most people would have stopped. I can't comment on Sontag's work, as I haven't read it, but I like her desk.

Posted by Niels Olson at December 5, 2005 3:10 PM

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