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Benjamin Moser

Author Website

  • Bio
  • Books & Translations
    • The Upside-Down World
    • Sontag: Her Life and Work
    • Why This World: A Biography of Clarice Lispector
    • The Works of Clarice Lispector in English Translation
      • Near to the Wild Heart
      • The Chandelier
      • The Besieged City
      • The Passion According to G.H.
      • Agua Viva
      • The Hour of the Star
      • A Breath of Life
      • Complete Stories
  • Selected Writings
  • Substack
  • News
  • Appearances
  • Nederlands
  • Português
    • Sontag: Vida e obra
    • Clarice, uma biografia
    • Autoimperialismo: três ensaios sobre o Brasil
  • Contact

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The Upside-Down World

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"a luminous, splendidly illustrated melding of art history and memoir."

― Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Benjamin Moser
2023-12-18T22:32:39+01:00

― Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"a luminous, splendidly illustrated melding of art history and memoir."
https://www.benmoser.com/testimonials/kirkus-reviews-starred-review/
"Part memoir, part critical and historical analysis...one of the best I’ve ever read"

– Hilton Als, author of White Girls

Benjamin Moser
2023-12-18T22:34:07+01:00

– Hilton Als, author of White Girls

"Part memoir, part critical and historical analysis...one of the best I’ve ever read"
https://www.benmoser.com/testimonials/hilton-als-author-of-white-girls/
"Benjamin Moser’s writing describes these artists as living beings and brings to life their works of art"

― Laurie Anderson

Benjamin Moser
2023-12-18T22:36:14+01:00

― Laurie Anderson

"Benjamin Moser’s writing describes these artists as living beings and brings to life their works of art"
https://www.benmoser.com/testimonials/laurie-anderson/
"Moser writes with insight and sympathy about his 18 painters and their pictures, many of which are handsomely reproduced in his pages."

― The Times

Benjamin Moser
2023-12-30T23:27:10+01:00

― The Times

"Moser writes with insight and sympathy about his 18 painters and their pictures, many of which are handsomely reproduced in his pages."
https://www.benmoser.com/testimonials/the-times/
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Benjamin Moser
The Upside-Down World Meetings with the Dutch Masters Ben Moser

Plunged into a strange land at twenty-six, Benjamin Moser began an obsessive, decades-long study of the Dutch masters to make his world right again.

Arriving as a young writer in an ancient Dutch town, Benjamin Moser was flummoxed, as any newcomer might be, by the language, people, and culture…

learn more


Sontag: Her Life and Work

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE

The definitive portrait of one of the American Century’s most towering intellectuals: her writing and her radical thought, her public activism and her hidden private face.

Sontag Benjamin Moser

 

“graceful, tactful, scrupulous, unerringly insightful”

–ArtForum

Benjamin Moser
2020-05-11T20:37:13+02:00

–ArtForum

“graceful, tactful, scrupulous, unerringly insightful”
https://www.benmoser.com/testimonials/artforum/
“Fascinating”

—The Los Angeles Times

Benjamin Moser
2020-05-11T20:37:30+02:00

—The Los Angeles Times

“Fascinating”
https://www.benmoser.com/testimonials/the-los-angeles-times/
“Persuasive and illuminating”

–LA Review of Books

Benjamin Moser
2020-05-11T20:37:47+02:00

–LA Review of Books

“Persuasive and illuminating”
https://www.benmoser.com/testimonials/la-review-of-books/
“Monumental and stylish.”

—The Atlantic

Benjamin Moser
2020-05-11T20:38:03+02:00

—The Atlantic

“Monumental and stylish.”
https://www.benmoser.com/testimonials/the-atlantic/
"Utterly riveting"

–The New Republic

Benjamin Moser
2020-05-11T20:47:42+02:00

–The New Republic

"Utterly riveting"
https://www.benmoser.com/testimonials/the-new-republic/
"Definitive and delightful"

–Stephen Fry

Benjamin Moser
2020-05-12T17:44:25+02:00

–Stephen Fry

"Definitive and delightful"
https://www.benmoser.com/testimonials/stephen-fry/
"Brilliant, bold, punchy and insightful"

–Guardian

Benjamin Moser
2020-05-12T17:50:40+02:00

–Guardian

"Brilliant, bold, punchy and insightful"
https://www.benmoser.com/testimonials/guardian/
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Benjamin Moser

ORDER NOW:

IndieBound
Amazon
Barnes & Noble


PRAISE FOR Sontag: Her Life and Work

Finalist for Publishing Triangle’s Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction
Finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Memoir/Biography
Finalist for the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award For Biography
Longlisted for the Plutarch Award for Biography
One of O Magazine’s Best Books of the Year
One of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Best Books of the Year
Seattle Times 4 Most Interesting Biographies of the Year
An Amazon Editors’ Holiday 2019 Gift Pick
One of New York Magazine’s The Best and Biggest Books to Read This Fall
One of O magazine’s 18 Must-Read Books of Fall
One of USA Today’s Five Books Not to Miss
One of Entertainment Weekly’s 20 New Books to Read in September
One of the New York Times’ 17 New Books to Watch For in September
One of the Washington Post’s Ten Books to Read this September
An Amazon Best of the Month, Biography & Memoir
One of O Magazine’s Best LGBTQ Books of the Year
One of the BBC’s Ten Books to Read this Summer
IndieBound Bestseller #29, 48

 

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The 2020 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Biography

Sontag: Her Life and Work wins the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in Biography An authoritatively constructed work told with pathos and grace, that captures the writer’s genius and humanity alongside her addictions, sexual ambiguities and volatile enthusiasms…learn more

Houston Chronicle interview with Benjamin Moser

Houston-born author Benjamin Moser dives deep into the life of ‘the coolest woman you ever met’ Benjamin Moser grew up around books. Admittedly, plenty of kids with bookish parents ensure their children are surrounded by shelves and piles of books. But Moser’s mother ran Stop, Look & Learn, a book and toy shop in Rice…

Interview with Benjamin Moser on KHOU-11

Benjamin Moser discusses his new book about writer and activist Susan Sontag. Watch on KHOU.com

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