Moon Snack: Susan Sontag’s Likes, Dislikes

A Particularly Good List

A very long time ago I discovered Susan Sontag’s list of likes and dislikes — in classic S.S. form, she takes what could be low-stakes drivel and infuses it with humor and wry charm, specificity and observational nuance.

I will never not love this as a general combo, and am excerpting here as an amuse bouche to set the tone for the week.

(Note: this list was published in the second installment of her collected journals here. I take issue with the fact that her raw journals were published posthumously, sans permission (the absolute horror!!), but that’s neither here nor there.

Things I like: fires, Venice, tequila, sunsets, babies, silent films, heights, coarse salt, top hats, large long-haired dogs, ship models, cinnamon, goose down quilts, pocket watches, the smell of newly mown grass, linen, Bach, Louis XIII furniture, sushi, microscopes, large rooms, ups, boots, drinking water, maple sugar candy.

Things I dislike: sleeping in an apartment alone, cold weather, couples, football games,…