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 mo-ment 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 illumi-nates everything from the Odyssey to the Oscars, from punk rock to presidents past and present. Whatever your political inclination or liter-ary and artistic touchstones, Paglia's takes are compulsively readable, thought provoking, gal-vanizing, and an essential part of our cultural dialogue, invariably giving voice to what most needs to be said.