after a short hiatus, i have returned to my mission, the reason i wake up every day - to devour every word Joan Didion has ever typed. this week’s menu features the 2021 anthology let me tell you what i mean.
while didion's voice is analogous to the 1960s, her emblematic tone endures as the collection crawls up through the 1970s into the 1990s and erupts into a fever pitch at the mark of a new millennium.
in traditional didion fashion, the subjects of the essays are tethered to personal recollections, fellow writers and creative types, and the act of writing itself. rife with life lessons and intimate memories from a bygone era, this book is one of those reads that i wish a gentle and understanding english teacher would have bequeathed to me during my teen years (i never got that Dead Poets Society experience - so i'm making do by romanticizing the day i picked up this read from an unassuming Chicago bookstore).
my favorite essay from the collection is undoubtedly “Everywoman.com”. this piece has a universal effect on the reader and begs the question: is martha stewart the original instagram influencer? and if not, is she simply the “that girl” of the late 1990s and early aughts?
in short, i argue: absolutely. didion lays out all the facts, clear as cut crystal champagne coupes on a reclaimed wood-french-farm-house-chic dining table. thanks to this essay, i can now come out as a martha stewart appreciator, even as a potential enjoyer.
i recommend this book to anyone searching for a guiding feminine light to shed some clarity on the “what am I even doing with my life” vibe that corrodes away at the last few neural synapses technologically-dependent twenty-somethings routinely suffer through. if you have a moment, i dare you to leaf through this book and try to find something that does not calm your neurotic disposition.
as with many of my reads, this book pairs well with public transit. specifically a long bus ride on a cold and rainy afternoon. once you get to where you are going, wind down with an essay, a mechanical pencil, and an accompanying glass of orange juice. you won't be disappointed
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