I was only vaguely aware of Joan Didion because of my dearest friend’s infatuation with D. A. Ortberg’s scatalogical YouTube impressions of imagined conversations between Didion and Anna Wintour.
That changed upon hearing Susan Stamberg’s 7 minute eulogy on NPR when Didion passed last month. I was moved to dive into Didion, consuming first her nephew’s summary of her cultural/political acuity.
I’ve come to realize Didion’s “fiction” was only slightly divorced from reality and so many expressions in her work were cultural and political sentries.
She was among a few people acting as a canary in the coal mine throughtout her writing carrier .
Hilton Als noted “She knew that her country was built on exclusion and shame“
unhillbilly 