Joan Didion is an American author, born in Sacramento, California, in 1934. She is renowned for her novels and literary journalism, which often explore the disintegration of American morals and cultural chaos. A sense of anxiety or dread permeates much of her work, as she delves into individual and social fragmentation. Didion's writing career began after graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, when she moved to New York and started working for Vogue. This opportunity paved the way for her career in journalism and writing.
Didion's first novel, Run River, was published in 1963. Over the years, she has published numerous novels, including A Book of Common Prayer (1977), Democracy (1984), and The Last Thing He Wanted (1996). In addition to her novels, Didion has written several volumes of essays, such as Slouching Towards Bethlehem (1968), The White Album (1979), and Let Me Tell You What I Mean (2021). Her nonfiction works, like Salvador (1983), Miami (1987), and The Year of Magical Thinking (2005), have also earned her critical acclaim. The Year of Magical Thinking won the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2005.
Joan Didion is considered an institution in American literature, encapsulating much of the 1960s through her reporting during that decade. Her unique storytelling approach combines factual reporting with more literary methods, coaxing subjects to life in a way that has influenced many writers since. Over the years, Didion has received numerous awards for her contributions to American literature, including the American Academy of Arts & Letters Gold Medal in Criticism and Belles Letters, the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, and a National Medal of Arts and Humanities by President Barack Obama. She passed away in December 2021, leaving behind a significant legacy in American literature.