About the Author

David Rieff is the author of eight previous books, including Swimming in a Sea of Death, At the Point of a Gun: Democratic Dreams and Armed Intervention; A Bed for the Night: Humanitarianism in Crisis; and Slaughterhouse: Bosnia and the Failure of the West. He lives in New York City.

Reviews

"Susan Sontag was fiercely, exuberantly alive, and uncompromising in her life no less than her work. David Rieff's fine, tender, and unflinching portrait of her final illness brings home her absolute determination to survive to the last -- to survive against the odds and live creatively despite a devastating disease and an unproven cancer treatment. At once a report from the frontlines of experimental oncology and a moving, absorbing personal account of his mother's last illness, Swimming in a Sea of Death is a courageous and darkly beautiful book." -- Oliver Sacks

The death of a parent is never easy, but when your mother is the well-known Susan Sontag, is a memoir even necessary? For Rieff (At the Point of a Gun: Democratic Dreams and Armed Intervention), it serves as a clarification of his mother's beliefs, a critique of the medical community, and a brief rest from the survivor's guilt trip. As he says, "I still cannot believe there was nothing I could do to help." Sontag had already survived two bouts of cancer when she was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome (a form of leukemia) in 2004. The prognosis was not good, but Sontag continued to do whatever she had to do to eke out more time on this earth. It wasn't a matter of denial; it was finding hope in information (mostly via the Internet): "the more you knew, the better your chances of cheating death once more." Rieff has a lyrical way with the terminology of illness and death that makes it seem less frightening. He speaks directly to the reader, for surely we can commiserate. Ultimately, this book presents a son trying to understand his mother's life and death and needing validation that, in the end, he did the right thing. Highly recommended for all libraries.-Bette-Lee Fox, Library Journal Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

"Susan Sontag was fiercely, exuberantly alive, and uncompromising in her life no less than her work. David Rieff's fine, tender, and unflinching portrait of her final illness brings home her absolute determination to survive to the last -- to survive against the odds and live creatively despite a devastating disease and an unproven cancer treatment. At once a report from the frontlines of experimental oncology and a moving, absorbing personal account of his mother's last illness, Swimming in a Sea of Death is a courageous and darkly beautiful book." -- Oliver Sacks