Sontag and Kael: Opposites Attract Me

A witty and stylish assessment of the work of two icons of cultural criticism: Susan Sontag and Pauline Kael.

Though outwardly they had some things in common—they were both Westerners who came east, both schooled in philosophy, both secular Jews and both single mothers—they were polar opposites in temperament and approach. Seligman approaches both women through their widely discussed work. Kael practiced a kind of verbal jazz—exuberant, excessive, intimate, emotional and funny. Sontag is for...