Joan Didion's Iconic Nonfiction Style
Crack open any book by Joan Didion and you’ll find her prose infused with the same grit, poetic glamour, and candor as her style. Didion’s notable new journalism—infused with facts and personal narratives—made waves in major magazines like Time, Vogue, Esquire, and The New York Times during the 160’s and 70’s. Her skill les in the ability to make the mundane magical, cool even. Dig in to any of her prominent literary nonfiction— like The White Album, or Slouching Towards Bethlehem, or The Year of Magical Thinking, and Blue Nights (her two loss memoirs)—and you may find yourself equally engrossed with 1) her complex social commentary of Haight-Ashbury during the Summer of Love as with 2) her in depth essay on California water systems. I kid you not, I started smiling and staring at water bridges with wild abandon after that essay experience.
Didion cemented her cultural icon status as a literary starlet through her intimate commentary during the height of counterculture with a clear, immersive perspective. Portraits from her past capture the same sense of individual fragmentation and cultural chaos as her writing. Her style on the page mirrors her personal style. From laid back California hippie chic threads to comfortable cool classics, Joan knows how to make a statement with oversized sunnies + a banana clip. Her minimal adornments—like her prose—are intentional yet effortless. Even her packing list is precise and straightforward, with a bit of edge (can't forget the bourbon or mohair throw yal!) Check out her iconic style and channel her O.G. influencer style while googling her greatest works like “On Self-Respect.”
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Images via Vanity Fair, Buzzfeed, NY Times, Vogue
