Feminism, neuroscience, psychoanalysis and art find a place in most, if not all, of Hustvedt’s works, be they novels, non-fiction or poetry. Here, in this sprawling collection of essays, these topics meet in a philosophical and theoretical setting. Writing in the first person, Hustvedt weaves the academic with the personal. The result shifts between literary, gender, art and scientific theory, with brief glimpses of what might be best described as anti-memoir. Central to the book is the study of perception – perception of reality, fiction, other people. Hustvedt studies her own sense of perception alongside scientific and art theories of perception. “What am I seeing?” she asks while standing in front of Weeping Woman by Picasso, before studying the impact our first interactions and observations as babies have on us as adults and, then, the manner in which perceiving anything can alter the physical makeup of the brain. This is a phenomenal book. Its soul is in the connections it draws between disparate subjects, through which Hustvedt manages to shrink the world into something comprehensible.
• A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women by Siri Hustvedt is published by Sceptre. To order a copy for £8.49 (RRP £9.99) go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99.
