First published 2015
Tracy Daugherty presents the first published biography of Joan Didion, tracing her journey from Sacramento beginnings to becoming a distinguished American author and journalist. Daugherty conducted interviews with people who knew Didion personally while respecting her reclusive nature. The book follows Didion's career at Vogue in New York City, where she met writer John Gregory Dunne, who became her husband and writing partner. Together they moved to Los Angeles and collaborated on screenplays and adaptations, achieving notable success. Daugherty examines Didion's literary journalistic style across both fiction and nonfiction works, including Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Run River, and The Year of Magical Thinking, which won the National Book Award and received Pulitzer Prize recognition for its exploration of grief after losing her husband and daughter. The biography offers both longtime admirers and newcomers an engaging portrait of this influential literary figure.
Genres: biography, literary-fiction, 20th-century, american, non-fiction, biography-memoir, 21st-century, journalism
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: reclusive-protagonist
Setting: Los Angeles, New York City, Sacramento
Period: 20th Century, 21st Century
752 pages · Hardcover · St. Martin's Press