"Reading Joan Didion" is the ideal way to enter this extraordinary and versatile author's world a world that counts among its citizens burned-out hippies, cynical and delusional players in the film and music scene, and even members of the Charles Manson family.

In addition to looking closely at major works of fiction, "Reading Joan Didion" also focuses on Didion the essayist, critic, and founding member of the New Journalism Movement, which uses fiction-like narrative techniques to go deeper into subjects that traditional objective reporting allows. Also covered is the rich...