Reading Joan Didion

Lynn Marie Houston is assistant professor of American literature in the English Department at California State University, Chico, CA.William V. Lombardi is a graduate student in the English Department at California State University, Chico, CA.

Houston and Lombardi (both American literature, California State U., Chico) offer a reader's guide to the work of California novelist, essayist, and journalist Joan Didion. Introductory chapters summarize the author's career and discuss the relationship of her writing to 20th century genres, including New Journalism and feminist writing. The chapters that follow explore craft and themes in six of Didion's works: Run River, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Play It As It Lays, The White Album, Where I Was From (a 2003 memoir), and 2006's The Year of Magical Thinking. Remaining chapters discuss Didion's work as it treats modern issues and pop culture, her presence in the media, and insights from the internet on her career. A suggested reading list concludes the text.