"The Benefactor," Susan Sontag's first book and first novel, originally published in 1963, introduced a unique writer to the world. In the form of a memoir by a latter-day Candide named Hippolyte, "The Benefactor" leads us on a kind of psychic Grand Tour, in which Hippolyte's violently imaginative dream life becomes indistinguishable from his surprising experiences in the 'real world.' Sontag's novel supplies a fascinating, knowing, acerbic portrait of a certain bohemian demimonde that flourished in France until quite recently. More important, "The Benefactor "is a novel about ideas-especially religious ideas-unlike any other: funny, acrobatic, disturbing, profound.

苏珊·桑塔格（1933～2004年），她生于美国纽约，毕业于芝加哥大学。1993年当选为美国文学艺术学院院士。她是当前美国声名卓著的“新知识分子”，和西蒙·波伏娃、汉娜·阿伦特被并称为西方当代最重要的女知识分子，被誉为“美国公众的良心”。2000年获美国国家图书奖、2001年获耶路撒冷国际文学奖，并获得2003年度德国图书大奖——德国书业和平奖。