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After Henry
by
Joan Didion
In her latest forays into the American scene, Joan Didion covers ground from Washington to Los Angeles, from a TV producer's gargantuan "manor" to the racial battlefields of New York's criminal courts. At each stop she uncovers the mythic narratives that elude other observers: Didion tells us about the fantasies the media construct around crime victims and presidential can...more
Paperback, 320 pages
Published
April 27th 1993
by Vintage
(first published 1992)
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The first Didion collection of essays I've read where I felt some of the pieces were were just mediocre, but there's excellent ones as well, particularly 'Girl of the Gold West', about Patty Hearst, and 'Times Mirror Square', about how Harrison Gray Otis and his son-in-law Harry Chandler basically willed Los Angeles into existence (blended with the history of the Los Angeles Times newspaper). The 'Pacific Distances' essay was a little too disconnected, but portions of it were brilliant, particul...more
I am 22 years old, and thus was quite a bit lost in much of the names mentioned in this book of essays, in the inner workings of the political campaigns discussed; still, Didion is so incisive that I was able to get a true feel for the Bush/Dukakis campaign, for the writer's strike in L.A. It is startling how much her writing, most of which dates from the late 80's (the time, in fact, of my birth) is relevant, even true, now--her exposition on political campaign tactics was shocking and eye-open...more
A collection of essays, mostly from the 1980s, which makes some of them seem like ancient history, only less interesting. As someone who absolutely loved "The White Album" and "Slouching Toward Bethlehem," I found these less compelling than those earlier pieces. By far the strongest essay in the book is about the Central Park Jogger case.
Really enjoy Joan Didion's non-fiction and this was no exception. The essay on About Henry describes her relationship with her editor. It is personal (unusual for Didion) and the last sentence just kicks you in the heart. I had read this years ago and had the same feeling today as back then.
The other essays on Patty Hearst, The Reagans and the New York Jogger interested me as well, though certainly not as personal as About Henry.
The other essays on Patty Hearst, The Reagans and the New York Jogger interested me as well, though certainly not as personal as About Henry.
Freakishly accurate depiction of 2010 political process. Wait... I mean, late 1980s political process. I'm confusing my years. Also - Sentimental Journeys is a beast of brilliance and absolutely required reading for all. Just exquisite.
A great book because it contains the essay "Sentimental Journeys" -- one of the best pieces of 20th century reporting ever. And because the politics stuff in it ("Shooters, Inc.", etc.) is great too
A must read for the last "New York" section alone. As well as for the description of Patty Hearst as "a California girl...raised on a history that placed not much emphasis on why."
I am of mixed opinion of Joan Didion's non-fiction, but this one totally got to me. And it's a perspective on the 1988 campaign few have dared put to paper.
The title essay is written after the death of her agent, and it's beautifully written. But the reason to take up the whole collection is the long essay "Sentimental Journeys," in which this California writer takes on New York. In particular, she examines the notorious Central Park jogger case, in which a successful white woman was beaten and raped in the park. Was it a roving gang of black youths who did it? Should she be named in media accounts? How do the various narratives of the city itself...more
Has some of her best essays in this-- such as the central park killer.
Great collection of essays .. especially the one on Patty Hearst.
Not her best--and a few of the better essays are reprinted in Political Fictions, an overall a better book.
Awesome non-fiction. I loved the last essay about New York.
Good stuff. I kind of want to move to Los Angeles now. Oof.
i'm a big fan of joan didion's writing, but sometimes i find myself enduring her philosophical points just for the pleasure of reading her prose. this book had me doing more of that than any of her other non fiction that i've read. the essay about the central park jogger case was particularly irritating -- definitely some sharp insights in there, but i found the universal tone of some of her pronouncements kind of offensive, especially her insistence that the western expansionist outlook is the...more
What's so striking about Didion's collection of essays, aside from their startling insights and wild, several-clauses-per-sentence prose, is how timely so many of them seem, even though the book is 25 years old. The essays deal with a powerful first lady, a writer's strike, a presidential campaign, etc., all approached through Didion's keen eye. The book is worth reading for historical purposes, for stylistic purposes and even to shed some light on current events.
the world in a grain of sand. would recommend to interested parties Adam Gopnik and David Brock's "The Republican Noise Machine" as like reading.
that said--commas, so many commas, semicolons, parenthetical clauses, addendums, this, that & the other, & the other, & the other--sometimes I want to call her up (or perhaps draft a longhand letter?) and tell her she shouldn't feel guilty about using a period and starting a new sentence every once and a while.
that said--commas, so many commas, semicolons, parenthetical clauses, addendums, this, that & the other, & the other, & the other--sometimes I want to call her up (or perhaps draft a longhand letter?) and tell her she shouldn't feel guilty about using a period and starting a new sentence every once and a while.
I'm still convinced that Joan Didion has never written a lackluster sentence in her life. The essays collected here turn the same wry, critical eye to California and New York in the 80s that "Slouching Toward Bethlehem" and "The White Album" did in the 60s and 70s. Everyone--particularly everyone who is interested in New York City's particular neuroses, but really just everyone--should read "Sentimental Journeys", the last essay in here.
There's not much I can say about Joan Didion. Just read her. Start with Slouching Towards Bethlehem, and continue from there. Skip around if you want, but make sure you read the essays "In the Islands" and "Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream", and as much of Salvador and Miami as you can. I can't imagine you'll be sorry!
More essays from Didion, this time the 80's. Though less spectacular than The White Album and Slouching Towards Bethlehem, that may just be a comment on the decade, rather than on the writing, which is still dazzling in its starkness and spareness.
A little outdated, but worth reading Sentimental Journeys.
so since i did not grow up in america i had a very faint view of the political system before 1992 (the first five years were kind of a blur of english language and american tv). joan didion just made me see the world that i thought i would not care about, in a strange and interesting manner.
Not sure if I'll finish this one. It's true she makes some interesting and intelligent observations, but her commentary is really cemented in the Reagan years and she assumes the reader has a certain knowledge base. I'm not quite there.
I really love Didion's work, and if it were a different author, I'd probably give this a four. However, I think some of her other books such as Where I Was From were absolutely amazing. Thus, a three.
It kills me to give a work by Didion anything less than five stars, but getting through most of the pieces in this collection was like torture. I really liked "After Henry" and "Fire Season," though.
This is a collection of excellent essays.
The keynote 17,000-word essay can be had here:
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archi...
The keynote 17,000-word essay can be had here:
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archi...
Nov 10, 2008
Kendall
added it
This book is a collection of essays divided into 3 sections: Washington- California- and New York. Many of the essays where boring- almost tedious at times.
My least favorite Didion book. She's usually so completely spot-on, but I felt like the race essays on 80's New York just kinda...missed it.
Didion writes with a clarity and grace usually found only in pure mountain spring water. These essays are a delight.
Didion's most California-centric and boring collection I've come across. There are still a few great essays in here.
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Joan Didion was born in California and lives in New York City. She's best known for her novels and her literary journalism.
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.
More about Joan Didion...
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.
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Sep 21, 2012 01:49pm