Leads us on a kind of psychic Grand Tour, in which a latter-day Candide named Hippolyte's violently imaginative dream life becomes indistinguishable from his surprising experiences in the 'real world'.



The Benefactor is Susan Sontag's first book and first novel. It was originally published in 1963, and 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'.