Swimming in a Sea of Death: A Son’s Memoir

(Simon & Schuster) The author tells the story of his mother, Susan Sontag’s battle with cancer and her fear of death. As her only child, Rieff relates the relationship between mother and son as he journeyed with Sontag from her initial diagnosis to her death in 2004. Rieff is a contributing writer to the New York Times Magazine and is the author of seven previous books.

Paw in print

Image
An inside look up the inside of a building, with four floors and a dinosaur skeleton visible.
The Latest Issue

April 2026

Inside the new ES and SEAS complex; kudos for austerity; jazz at Princeton.