Bradley Bravard reviewed The white album by Joan Didion
Enormous Scope but Highly Personal
5 stars
I'm not widely read when it comes to essayists, but Joan Didion's The White Album blew my mind. I suspect that a lot of people, like me, would tend to view Didion as something of an elitist - she wrote screenplays and lived in Hollywood, among other rarefied places. But her writing is highly personal while also casting a wide cultural net. Didion describes U.S. life in a way that is entirely accessible. I'm not determined to read more of her essay collections.
I'm not widely read when it comes to essayists, but Joan Didion's The White Album blew my mind. I suspect that a lot of people, like me, would tend to view Didion as something of an elitist - she wrote screenplays and lived in Hollywood, among other rarefied places. But her writing is highly personal while also casting a wide cultural net. Didion describes U.S. life in a way that is entirely accessible. I'm not determined to read more of her essay collections.