South and West by Joan Didion

South and West by Joan Didion
Published by Knopf Publishing Group on Mar. 7, 2017
Genre(s): Nonfiction, Essays, Memoir, Travel
Format: Kindle
Pages: 160

Goodreads synopsis: 

From the best-selling author of the National Book Award-winning The Year of Magical Thinking two extended excerpts from her never-before-seen notebooks--writings that offer an illuminating glimpse into the mind and process of a legendary writer.

Joan Didion has always kept notebooks: of overheard dialogue, observations, interviews, drafts of essays and articles--and here is one such draft that traces a road trip she took with her husband, John Gregory Dunne, in June 1970, through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. She interviews prominent local figures, describes motels, diners, a deserted reptile farm, a visit with Walker Percy, a ladies' brunch at the Mississippi Broadcasters' Convention. She writes about the stifling heat, the almost viscous pace of life, the sulfurous light, and the preoccupation with race, class, and heritage she finds in the small towns they pass through. 

And from a different notebook: the "California Notes" that began as an assignment from Rolling Stone on the Patty Hearst trial of 1976. Though Didion never wrote the piece, watching the trial and being in San Francisco triggered thoughts about the city, its social hierarchy, the Hearsts, and her own upbringing in Sacramento. Here, too, is the beginning of her thinking about the West, its landscape, the western women who were heroic for her, and her own lineage, all of which would appear later in her acclaimed 2003 book, Where I Was From. 

This book is an intimate look into Joan Didion’s thought process during her time spent traveling in the South in the 70s. Joan spends a month traveling through Lousiana, Missisippi, and Alabama in the hopes that gaining a further understanding of the South will help her to better understand the West and her place amongst it.

The style of the book is a sort of collection of essays, or notes, from the notebook Joan kept while she moved through her journey. Only a last ¼ of the book is devoted to the West, centering around Joan’s involvement with the Patty Hearst trial.

As she does in all of her writing, Joan is a perfect craftsman of words, capturing every detail- spoken and unspoken- to truly place the reader within the story. Her writing is effortless, making the art of story-telling seem easy. It’s always enjoyable to read her words and this piece of work was a unique glimpse at how her brilliant mind works.

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