Collected Essays

One of the Best Books of the Year: Kirkus Reviews

A timely and lavishly comprehensive collection from the inimitable critical firebrand--hailed as a fearless public intellectual and more necessary than ever" (The New York Times)--tackling sex, art, feminism, politics, and education, and covering the full span of her wide-ranging and important career.

Much has changed since Camille Paglia first burst onto the scene with her groundbreaking Sexual Personae, but the laser-sharp insights of this major American thinker continue to be ahead of the curve--not only capturing the tone of the mo­ment but also often anticipating it. Opening with a blazing manifesto of an introduction in which Paglia outlines the bedrock beliefs that inform her writing--freedom of speech, the necessity of fearless inquiry, and a deep respect for all art, both erudite and popular--Provocations gathers together a rich, varied body of work that illumi­nates everything from the Odyssey to the Oscars, from punk rock to presidents past and present.

Whatever your political inclination or liter­ary and artistic touchstones, Paglia's takes are compulsively readable, thought provoking, gal­vanizing, and an essential part of our cultural dialogue, invariably giving voice to what most needs to be said.