Slouching Towards Bethlehem

In "Goodbye to All That," Joan Didion means that staying too long in a place can lead to disillusionment. Initially enchanted by New York City, she eventually becomes disenchanted as the city's charm...

"Where the Kissing Never Stops" by Joan Didion critiques folk singer Joan Baez and her Institute for the Study of Nonviolence. Didion portrays Baez as an earnest but superficial activist, reflecting...

Didion's strategy in "Slouching Towards Bethlehem" is to report, in a "slice of life" fashion, little details about her time in San Francisco and the people she meets. While this gives the essay a...

In "On Self-Respect," Joan Didion sets out to answer the question of where self-respect originates and how one can gain it. She begins by describing her experience as a college student who was not...