I enjoyed the documentary “Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold” much more than I enjoyed this book. This documentary is available for streaming and on DVD on Netflix. It is well worth a watch.
so-so“Her novels and essays explore the disintegration of American morals and cultural chaos, where the overriding theme is individual and social fragmentation. A sense of anxiety or dread permeates much of her work.” I never really connected to this story or any of the characters. Her writing style, at least in this book, is not for me. #1001books
pickMy IRL book group is having a "read anything by Joan Didion" month. I've started with this one and I think it was a good choice. She takes meta fiction to a new level by making herself,as the writer, the narrator of the novel and comments not only on the action as it takes place but also the decisions she makes in presenting it. The story itself is fairly slight, but the background of domestic and international politics is fascinating.
pickThis is a curious story, told in jigsaw fashion, of how life lived in the public eye distorts reality. Each puzzle piece is an image or a perfect moment, but presented out of order and repeated if a second piece illuminates an earlier one. The author also discusses the difficulty in shaping the story and the other novels that could be told.
I am not sure I understood the plot, but the writing is so phenomenal that I don't care.
4.5 🌟 #1001
#AprilBookShowers Day 11 - Set in SE Asia
Published in the US in 1984, Didion's slim novel takes the reader from Malaysia to Vietnam, and then across the Pacific to Hawaii.
Also, can we have a moment for this unbelievably 80's author photo on the back cover 💯👌
Democracy | 
