The Last Thing He Wanted (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: Joan Didion
- First Published: 1996
- Type of Work: Novel
- Time of Work: 1984
- Setting: The United States, Costa Rica, and an unidentified Caribbean island
- Principal Characters: Elena McMahon, Dick McMahon, Treat Morrison, The anonymous narrator, Max Epperson, Wynn Janklow
- Genres: Long fiction
- Subjects: Self-discovery
- Locales: Caribbean
The novel opens with the unnamed narrator attempting to recall the events of 1984 and introduces the reader to Elena McMahon, a middle-aged woman who has a history of abrupt career changes and personal redefinitions. This pattern first becomes evident in 1964 when McMahon loses her scholarship to the University of Nevada “and within a week invented herself as a reporter for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner.” When she meets her future husband four years later, she reinvents herself into his wife.
Soon she becomes one of the pampered, beautiful Los Angelenos, giving and...
[The entire page is 1935 words long]
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