Research Catalog

Title

Let me tell you what I mean / Joan Didion ; foreword by Hilton Als.

Author

Didion, Joan

Publication

• New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2021.
• ©2021

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Als, Hilton

Description

xxxv, 149 pages; 20 cm

Summary

From one of our most iconic and influential writers: twelve pieces that offer an illuminating glimpse into the mind and process of a legendary figure. These essays from 1968 to 2000, which have not been gathered together until now, showcase Joan Didion's incisive reporting, her empathetic gaze, and her insights on writing. They touch on subjects ranging from newspapers ("the problem is not so much whether one trusts the news as whether one finds it"), to the fantasy of San Simeon, to not getting into Stanford. In "On Being Unchosen by the College of One's Choice," Didion ponders the fraught parent/child dilemma: "I wonder if we had better not find some way ... to extricate our expectations from theirs...to let them work through their own rejections." From her admiration for Hemingway's sentences to her acknowledgement that Martha Stewart3 story is one "that has historically encouraged women in this country, even as it has threatened men," these pieces are acutely and brilliantly observed. This timeless collection of Didion's mostly early writing reveals what would become her subjects, including the press, politics, California robber barons, women, the act of writing, and her own self-doubt. Each piece is classic Didion: incisive, bemused, and stunningly prescient. --

Uniform Title

Essays. Selections

Alternative Title

Essays.

Subject

• Didion, Joan
• American essays
• Autobiography

Genre/Form

• Essays.
• Autobiographies.

Note

• "This is a Borzoi Book published by Alfred A. Knoff"-- title page verso.

Contents

Alicia and the underground press -- Getting serenity -- A trip to Xanadu -- On being unchosen by the college of one's choice -- Pretty Nancy -- Fathers, sons, screaming eagles -- Why I write -- Telling stories -- Some women -- The long-distance runner -- Last words -- Everywoman.com.

Call Number

JFC 21-102

ISBN

• 9780593318485
• 059331848X

LCCN

• 2020016867
• 40030365780

OCLC

1153007503

Author

Didion, Joan, author.

Title

Let me tell you what I mean / Joan Didion ; foreword by Hilton Als.

Publisher

New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2021.

Copyright Date

©2021

Edition

First edition.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Added Author

Als, Hilton, writer of foreword.

Other Form:

Online version: Didion, Joan, Let me tell you what I mean First edition. New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2021. 9780593318492 (DLC) 2020016868

Other Standard Identifier

40030365780

Research Call Number

JFC 21-102