can ever be definitive anyway ?” Instead , we wanted to “ establish a ground on which other biographers and critics can build .” We quoted Herbert Butterfield on the importance of first biographies that capture materials otherwise lost to history . We quoted a phrase from my biography of Norman Mailer : “ Sometimes one can , with a pen , get a purchase on the future .” We ended our letter by offering to send Sontag copies of our publications and saying we looked forward to hearing from her .
Nothing in Sontag ' s experience or understanding prepared her for such an approach , one coming from so far outside her range of acquaintance , let alone friendship . Nothing in her comprehension of literature allowed for even the slightest acknowledgement of biography as a respectable , let alone desirable , genre . She summarized her views in her letter refusing an interview to Greg Johnson , Joyce Carol Oates ' s authorized biographer : “ This has nothing to do with your distinguished subject . It is because I don ' t see the necessity of biographies of living authors ; don ' t like to gossip or make public the private knowledge I have of my friends and acquaintances ; and don ' t think my opinions or ratings of my contemporaries is of much interest .” 6
When Sontag did not reply to our March 1996 letter , we wrote another note to her , enclosing our original letter and expressing the hope she would find time to reply . She did not . Instead , on September 12 , 1996 , we heard from Sontag ’ s agent , Andrew Wylie , who said she had asked him to write on her behalf . He reported that they were “ intrigued ” with the idea of a biography , but that because Sontag was writing a new novel she did not have the time
6 Sontag to Greg Johnson , June 19 , 1992 , UCLA archive . 15