The World According to Joan Didion

Writing in the precision style of a writer like the late Joan Didion is difficult. But Evelyn McDonnell channels Didion’s indomitable writing style and spirit in this admirable work. One might say that McDonnell in just over 200 pages manages to describe the unique individual that Joan Didion was far better than was done in an overly long 752-page biography released back in 2015.

I read the long biography of Didion back when it was released. At its conclusion, I felt that I had failed to learn a thing which made me feel as if I had come to know Didion. One key issue with immense biographies is that they are filled with so much detail and factoids that the forest is lost for the trees; not to mention several seeming contradictions that are not explained away. McDonnell has avoided that trap by focusing on who Didion was, what she wanted in life, and what struggles she encountered. We here see the Didion who was energized by getting past her failures. All in all, this is a brilliant work. Thanks to McDonnell, I now feel like I’ve finally met the marvelous Joan Didion. Wow.