Lauren O. (LoMel) - , reviewed on 3/21/2015 + 134 more book reviews

I wasn't sure what to expect going into these essays, and was pleasantly surprised by how academic they are, which isn't to say that they aren't accessible, just that they reminded me of some of the best academic-style writing. I think both pieces are incredibly valuable, although I have to agree with most of the reviews I've read in saying that Illness as Metaphor is better than AIDS and Its Metaphors. The second essay still has a lot to like but at this point some of it is unavoidably dated (and I do wish there was a bit more discussion of the structural causes of AIDS and HIV infection-there's a bit but not much). Overall though I really, really liked both of these and think Sontag makes both useful and relevant points about the ways in which we use disease, illness, and suffering both positively and negatively as metaphor.

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