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Let Me Tell You What I Mean
Let Me Tell You What I Mean
Let Me Tell You What I Mean
Audiobook4 hours

Let Me Tell You What I Mean

Written by Joan Didion

Narrated by Kimberly Farr

4/5

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About this audiobook

Twelve early pieces never before collected that offer an illuminating glimpse into the mind and process of Joan Didion.

Mostly drawn from the earliest part of her astonishing five-decade career, the wide-ranging pieces in this collection include Didion writing about a Gamblers Anonymous meeting, a visit to San Simeon, and a reunion of WWII veterans in Las Vegas, and about topics ranging from Nancy Reagan to Robert Mapplethorpe to Martha Stewart.

Here are subjects Didion has long written about – the press, politics, California robber baronsac, women, the act of writing, and her own self-doubt. Each piece is classic Didion: incisive and, in new light, stunningly prescient.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperCollins UK Audio
Release dateFeb 4, 2021
ISBN9780008451776
Author

Joan Didion

Joan Didion is one of America’s most respected writers, her work constituting some of the greatest portraits of modern-day American culture. Over the four decades of her career, she has produced widely-acclaimed journalistic essays, personal essays, novels, non-fiction, memoir and screenplays. Her memoir The Year of Magical Thinking won the National Book Award in 2005.

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Reviews for Let Me Tell You What I Mean

4/5

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  • 5/5
    joan didion i love you and i miss you <3
  • 4/5
    12 short stories. Interesting topics and writing.
  • 3/5
    This was my first acquaintance with the legendary Didion (1934-2021). This short booklet gives a sample of her columns and slightly longer pieces, spread over her entire career. They aren't all gems, of course, but you can tell how straightforward her style was, and how sharp-witted she could describe things. It may not be entirely representative, but the way she portrays Nancy Reagan (then wife of California governor Ronald Reagan) is both charming and disenchanting. And in both ‘Telling Stories’ and ‘Last Words’ she gives a nice introspection into her way of writing, and in that of others, such as her great example Ernest Hemingway. The only regrettable thing about this book is the voluminous preface, in which just about everything that follows is already explained.