Joan Didion: The 1960s & 70s (LOA #325): Run River / Slouching Towards Bethlehem / Play It As It Lays / A Book of Common Prayer / The White Album (Library of America, 325)

Joan Didion was my hero in college. My first class as a junior transfer student was an independent study using Thom Wolfe's book on the New Jounalists. This type of writing is being called creative non fiction now, but Joan, Thom and Hunter Thompson started it all. I read all of these then, but this LOA, Library of America compilation is just handy. Be sure and check out the LOA's compilations of her other works.

This edition is the first of three books collecting Didion's work. Encompassing her writings in the '60s/'70s, this is some of her very best work. From Run River ('63), a novel about ranch families in the Sacramento Valley and how they deal with the coming of suburban sprawl and values different from their own, and how it affects the characters in the novel, this sets up Didion's look at California life found in other writings included here.Perhaps best known for Slouching Towards Bethlehem ('68), a collection of observations and thoughts on a number of subjects including the Las Vegas wedding industry, the Haight-Ashbury counterculture, and other subjects, Didion gives a report from the time period that's both a new style of writing that's observational and humanistic.Play It As It Lays ('70) is all about the high flying life in Hollywood and how things can go wrong. The subject of the novel sees her life and career fading and finds herself devoid of real human connection.A Book Of Common Prayer ('77) is set in Central America with a mother looking for her daughter, a Marxist revolutionary, in the context of political revolution of a country in upheaval.The White Album ('79) finds Didion once again writing about California including subjects like shopping malls, the Black Panthers, The Doors, and the Manson Family. Her writing seems to point to a California that is slightly off kilter from earlier times, and that seems to be changing rapidly into something darker, and not for the better.All in all, this book collects some of Didion's most incisive writing combining keen observations and her own feelings into a style that always seems dispassionate yet very readable. The book itself is in the usual format for this series. A minor quibble--I understand the use of thin paper stock, but wish it was a bit thicker for easier use when reading. But if you haven't read Didion's early work, or only some of it, this is a worthwhile addition to your library.

A great,long life lived. Very interesting reading about an iconic person.

I am very pleased to have volume one. I am disappointed not to have all three. Having read most of what Joan Didion has written I am looking for some of her writings that are not in print, such as the N.Y. Times Book Review she wrote on Norman Mailer’s “Executioners Song,” which is the finest review of any book I have ever read. It was Mailer’s great book. She and he were able to write in our America English in the vernacular that we hear living here. I have looked for her when I am on the streets of the UES in New York. As fellow Californian living in New York I would say hello.

Insightful commentary on a much misunderstood time . . .

I recommend Slouching towards Bethlehem

Some many of Didoin's great works under one cover. What's not to like?

I had to return this book because the font was so small. I love her writing and wanted to have all these together, but to read something in such small print wouldn't have been enjoying. I'll get the three books separately.

Didion is a Great essayist, writer. I have her books in soft covers. However, l purchased the LOA book as they are a cut above. Each volume is of an exceptional quality, from the front cover to the binding, to the type of paper, to the printing. Worth every penny. Aesthetically pleasing.

Excellent collection and edition of Didion's 60s and 70s writing

This review is not about the content of the LOA edition of the first volume of Joan Didion's collected writings. I almost didn't buy the book based on other reviews here noting that the font size is too small. I'm not saying it is too small, the right size or large, just that it is no different from other LOA volumes. To my eyes it is very acceptable. If you have other LOA volumes in your collection, you know what to expect in terms of the quality of the book.

It's all there. Her prime on America and her style is very focused.

This collection includes fiction & non fiction pieces. The non fiction are a compilation of essays Didion wrote about various subjects & are mostly short & unrelated but non the less very descriptive & informative & entertaining