We collect cookies to analyze our website traffic and performance; we never collect any personal data.Cookies Policy
Accept
Michigan Post
Search
  • Home
  • Trending
  • Michigan
  • World
  • Politics
  • Top Story
  • Business
    • Business
    • Economics
    • Real Estate
    • Startups
    • Autos
    • Crypto & Web 3
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
    • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Beauty
    • Art & Books
  • Health
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
  • Education
Reading: A Guide to Joan Didion’s Books
Share
Font ResizerAa
Michigan PostMichigan Post
Search
  • Home
  • Trending
  • Michigan
  • World
  • Politics
  • Top Story
  • Business
    • Business
    • Economics
    • Real Estate
    • Startups
    • Autos
    • Crypto & Web 3
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
    • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Beauty
    • Art & Books
  • Health
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
  • Education
© 2024 | The Michigan Post | All Rights Reserved.
Michigan Post > Blog > Art & Books > A Guide to Joan Didion’s Books
Art & Books

A Guide to Joan Didion’s Books

By Editorial Board Published December 23, 2021 4 Min Read
Share
A Guide to Joan Didion’s Books
00Didion facebookJumbo

Didion’s “first collection of nonfiction writing, ‘Slouching Towards Bethlehem,’ brings together some of the finest magazine pieces published by anyone in this country in recent years,” wrote our critic, Dan Wakefield.

John Leonard wrote of Didion and this novel, “She writes with a razor, carving her characters out of her perceptions with strokes so swift and economical that each scene ends almost before the reader is aware of it, and yet the characters go on bleeding afterward.”

“Like her narrator, she has been an articulate witness to the most stubborn and intractable truths of our time, a memorable voice, partly eulogistic, partly despairing; always in control.” — Joyce Carol Oates

“All of the essays — even the slightest — manifest not only her intelligence, but an instinct for details that continue to emit pulsations in the reader’s memory and a style that is spare, subtly musical in its phrasing and exact. Add to these her highly vulnerable sense of herself, and the result is a voice like no other in contemporary journalism.” — Robert Towers

“It is difficult to deny that everything she writes grows out of close observation of the social and political landscape of El Salvador. And it is quite impossible to deny the artistic brilliance of her reportage.” — Christopher Lehmann-Haupt

‘Miami’ (1987)

“A new novel by Joan Didion is something of an event. Since her first one, ‘Run River,’ she has gathered a quiet following with her nonfiction pieces that were collected under the title ‘Slouching Towards Bethlehem’ and published to critical enthusiasm in 1968. It was interesting to wonder what sort of fiction Didion’s beautiful writerly skills would now make of her clear-eyed and anguished perception of our time.” — Christopher Lehmann-Haupt

Didion’s “intelligence is as honed as ever; her voice has its familiar ring, and her vision is ice-water clear.” — Hendrik Hertzberg

“But to ‘Political Fictions,’ besides her black conceit, her sonar ear, her radar eye and her ice pick/laser beam/night-scope sniper prose, she brings Tiger Ops assets of temperament.” — John Leonard

“This new book of Didion’s is full of second thoughts: about the Sacramento Valley of her childhood and, finally, the whole history of California.” It is the work of “someone who is even now, arguably, a great American writer.” — Thomas Mallon

“Her manner is deadpan funny, slicing away banality with an air that is ruthless yet meticulous. She uses few adjectives. The unshowy, nearly flat surface of her writing is rippled by patterns of repetition: an understatement that, like Hemingway’s, attains its own kind of drama. Repetition and observation narrate emotion by demonstrating it, so that restraint itself becomes poetic, even operatic.” — Robert Pinsky

“Didion’s heartbreaking new book, ‘Blue Nights,’ is at once a loving portrait of Quintana and a mother’s conflicted effort to grapple with her grief through words: The medium the author has used throughout her life to try to make sense of the senseless. It is a searing inquiry into loss and a melancholy meditation on mortality and time.” — Michiko Kakutani

TAGGED:The Washington Mail
Share This Article
Facebook Twitter Email Copy Link Print

HOT NEWS

Justice system ‘near damaged’, Met Police chief says – as he admits London’s ‘shameful’ racism problem

Justice system ‘near damaged’, Met Police chief says – as he admits London’s ‘shameful’ racism problem

Politics
July 13, 2025
With LeBron James instructing him courtside, Bronny places on a Summer time League present

With LeBron James instructing him courtside, Bronny places on a Summer time League present

LAS VEGAS — The gang contained in the Thomas & Mack Middle started to stir a number…

July 13, 2025
Farmer turns into first individual to die throughout Trump’s ICE raids

Farmer turns into first individual to die throughout Trump’s ICE raids

A farmer who fell from a greenhouse roof throughout an anti-immigrant raid at a licensed…

July 13, 2025
The Deep State Wins Once more | Economics

The Deep State Wins Once more | Economics

  Each single one that was on the January sixth Fee that was attempting to…

July 13, 2025
Quarterback Luke Fahey of Mission Viejo is separating himself

Quarterback Luke Fahey of Mission Viejo is separating himself

Luke Fahey seemed proper, then handed left. He seemed left, then handed proper. Defensive backs…

July 13, 2025

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

The Quiet Strength of Brenda’s Verse: A Journey Through Poetry and Faith

In a world that often feels like it’s moving too fast, Brenda Sanders, a 69-year-old poet from New York, offers…

Art & BooksTrending
July 12, 2025

Beloved Children’s Book 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒂𝒑 𝑴𝒚 𝑴𝒐𝒎𝒔 𝑮𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝑴𝒆 Returns to Best-Seller Status Years After Its Release — and Fans Are Begging for More

Years after its quiet but powerful debut, "The Map My Moms Gave Me" has reclaimed the spotlight — this time…

Art & BooksTrending
June 23, 2025

Albertina presents “Travels: Artists on the move”

From June 27 by August 24, 2025, the Albertina in Vienna presents the exhibition “Travels: Artists on the move” Supply:…

Art & Books
June 21, 2025

Artwork Basel’s 2025 version brings collectively 289 main galleries

From June 19 to 22, 2025, Artwork Basel’s extremely anticipated 2025 version will carry collectively 289 main galleries from 42…

Art & Books
June 18, 2025

Welcome to Michigan Post, an esteemed publication of the Enspirers News Group. As a beacon of excellence in journalism, Michigan Post is committed to delivering unfiltered and comprehensive news coverage on World News, Politics, Business, Tech, and beyond.

Company

  • About Us
  • Newsroom Policies & Standards
  • Diversity & Inclusion
  • Careers
  • Media & Community Relations
  • Accessibility Statement

Contact Us

  • Contact Us
  • Contact Customer Care
  • Advertise
  • Licensing & Syndication
  • Request a Correction
  • Contact the Newsroom
  • Send a News Tip
  • Report a Vulnerability

Term of Use

  • Digital Products Terms of Sale
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Settings
  • Submissions & Discussion Policy
  • RSS Terms of Service
  • Ad Choices

© 2024 | The Michigan Post | All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?