Joan Didion

Joan Didion

Introduction

Didion is one of the most highly regarded contemporary American writers of essays and novels. In her writing she focuses on the disintegration of American morals in both the public and private spheres and the cultural chaos that results from individual and societal fragmentation, using her own subjective experiences and observations as a vantage point. -- Joan Didion Criticism

Didion’s achievements are somewhat paradoxical. Despite her claims that she speaks only for herself, she became a spokesperson for the anxiety-ridden generation of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s; as surely as F. Scott Fitzgerald became the chronicler of the Jazz Age, she became the chronicler of a generation living, in her terms, “close to the edge.” Didion developed a reputation for cool, detached observation and for her syncopated but elegant style. Poet James Dickey called her “the finest woman prose stylist writing in English today,” and even some who dismiss her as intellectually shallow respect her craftsmanship. Her accomplishments were formally recognized in 1996 when she was awarded the Edward MacDowell Medal for outstanding contributions to the arts. Previous recipients have included Robert Frost, Lillian Hellman, and Mary McCarthy. -- Joan Didion Biography