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. Sontag's novel supplies a fascinating, knowing, acerbic portrait of a certain bohemian demi-monde that flourished in France until quite recently. More importantly, The Benefactor is a novel about ideas - especially religious ideas - unlike any other: funny, acrobatic, disturbing and profound.