bears the hallmarks of Didion's sparkling prose: her use of detail, juxtaposition, and ntence fragment, description, and insight.Originally written in the 1970s as a pair of diaries, it finally sees the light of day at a moment when California and the Real America of the South are warring over the soul of the country.

' South and West is a compelling book - rooted utterly in a past now all but lost to us, while also incredibly timely and relevant. One of TIME's most anticipated books of 2017 One of The New York Times Book Review's 'What You'll Be Reading in 2017' Includued among the Best Books of March 2017 by both LitHub and Signature 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. 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. And from a different notebook: the California Notes that began as an assignment from Rolling Stone on the Patty Hearst trial of 1976. 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.

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. 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. 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 west and south