Joan Didion's description of early-1980s El Salvador is a terrifically bleak one. The reportage style is beautifully written and wonderfully, powerfully, and horrifically descriptive.
The content seems dated from the El Salvador I am aware of but the interviews with the politicians and ambassadors reflect some of the issues prevalent in the tiny Central American country today. The gulf between rich and poor still exists and Didion's frustration with the lack of access to balanced (or any) coverage of news within the country made me think that some things had not changed much in the nearly thirty years since publication.
The matter-of-fact reporting of some of the terrible murders that were occurring at the time, and the portraits given of the state of the bodies at their disposal, do still bring the true horror of the lawlessness of El Salvador to life. Of most poignancy was Didion's descriptions of her personal fears as she traveled across the country, and her musings on "high tea" in the serenity of the ambassador's garden.
As an insight into 21st Century El Salvador I do not think this provides much. However, as a provider of historical context for the reticence of many present day Salvadoran's to remain indoors after dark, it is invaluable and illuminating.