This book focuses on six brilliant women who are often seen as particularly tough-minded: Simone Weil, Hannah Arendt, Mary McCarthy, Susan Sontag, Diane Arbus, and Joan Didion. Aligned with no single tradition, they escape straightforward categories. Yet their work evinces an affinity of style and philosophical viewpoint that derives from a shared attitude toward suffering. What Mary McCarthy called a "cold eye" was not merely a personal aversion...

"An extended analysis of the intersections between the institutional contexts of slavery and the affective structures of sentiment, Spectacular Suffering considers not only how the enslaved subject is constructed, but also how slaves responded to and registered their experiences, creating a measure of autonomy even under the conditions of slavery"--Provided by publisher.