Susan Sontag

Her dad managed a fur trading business in China, where he died of tuberculosis in 1939, when Susan was just five years old. Seven years later, her mom remarried to US Army Captain Nathan Sontag. Both Susan and Judith (her sister) took their stepdad’s surname, even though he didn’t adopt them formally.

The best place to start is the Annie Leibovitz Photography series, the earliest of Susan Sontag's multi-book series: it opens with Shooting Stars: The Rolling Stone Book of Portraits (1973) and runs to 16 books across 1973–2025, ending with Annie Leibovitz: Women: 2025 Edition (2025).

Susan Sontag has 158 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1963 and 2025. 117 of them belong to 4 named series — the largest being the Annie Leibovitz Photography series with 16 books — and 41 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.

Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Susan Sontag's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Annie Leibovitz Photography (1973–2025, 16 books), Journals of Susan Sontag (2008–2012, 2 books) and Benjamin Taylor Collections (2015–2017, 2 books).

This guide splits Susan Sontag's 158 books into 4 named series and 41 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Annie Leibovitz Photography (16 books, 1973–2025); Journals of Susan Sontag (2 books, 2008–2012); Benjamin Taylor Collections (2 books, 2015–2017); Literary Conversations (97 books, 1969–2023).