Sigrid Nunez, my favorite writer, spent years in the company of Susan Sontag. From these years, Nunez learned: *Sontag always insisted on sitting close to the movie screen (which is a good policy). *Sontag had no interest--or almost no interest--in nature and in animals. *Sontag generally did not prepare for lectures, speaking engagements, classes. *Sontag had very little patience for contemporary American literary fiction. She thought Updike and Roth were fine stylists--and that's all. Sontag's literary interests were W.G. Sebald, Juan Rulfo, and Joseph Brodsky. *Sontag's response to the challenges of parenting: Drag your child to Film Forum, and have him sleep through whatever double header you've selected. Enjoy! *Sontag was impossible with waiters. She treated them like cattle. One of her favorite moves was to request that the waiter produce a bizarre dish with no clear link to (not even a family resemblance with) any dish actually offered on the menu. When the wai...