Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion (1983-06-03)

I find myself reading and retreading this book, just like her later works. I love her delivery of information and expression of feeling, which is always slightly removed and analytical while paradoxically being heartfelt.

You enter a different world when you read this book (also Didion's White Album). It's not the California you see on television or People magazine; it's the gritty day to day California life, of the 1960's.

Didion writes well, and some of the initial essays are captivating, particularly the first one. However I found the second half of the book to be decent and nothing more, but what do I know? I'm neither a writer or a philosopher.

This collection captures the mood of a period of time in our history. The words are carefully chosen. The stories are hypnotic...many take me back in time to a far less stable sense of societal well-being. (Yes! Everything was being torn apart in the '60s and '70s , and for the first time in history, on TV, nightly.

Truthfully, my recent purchase was a gift. I originally read the book approx. 30yrs. ago. My copy is so worn that I should treat myself to a new one.

Then I'll let you know what I think of the book now that 'we're' well into the new millennium. I feel confident it will hold up. Joan Didion rules!

Hidden gems that are still relevant for a 20-something today - all of the chapters that are on Didion's reflections of herself are timeless. Other chapters I felt that I didn't know enough historical information to understand what she was talking about. Bought the book because I read "on self-respect" and was pulled to read more by her. She fits the genre of female authors who are journalistic and reflective in nature.

I was disappointed when this book arrived. It is palm-sized, but thick. This made it awkward to carry and to read. I loaned my original copy years ago and had hoped to replace it. I can never find this particular book in used book stores so was happy to see a hard cover option on the store. It is nicely constructed and the essays hold up, but do not expect a "normal" sized book for your $16. This was not disclosed by the seller, that I can recall. If you'd like to read these essays and want something "cutesy", which doesn't really fit the content, this is a good option. The 3 stars are for the book dimensions, not the author. (It *is* very pretty, but not as expected.)

There may be some fuzzy episodes, but Didion's writing is a joy. As a child of the '60s, the references were well wrought and insights telling. The Wayne and Baez portraits were not what one would expect, but deeply appreciated. She's got the central valley of California nailed down, from Bakersfield to Sacramento. Much else to say, but I'll leave it at that.

This beautifully written book contains twenty essays Joan Didion wrote in the 1960s. It’s divided into three sections, one on California, one on her self and one about place. Didion is an excellent writer and stylist and some of these essays have rightfully achieved a classic status. “Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream” takes a real life tabloid story about a wife who murdered her husband and endows it with about as much psychological, tragic, emotional, and sociological meaning as is possible. She elevates the story with the way in which she describes the religious, squabbling couple, and her description of the geography and culture of the San Bernardino Valley brings a whole world to life. This rich feeling for a sense of place also makes highlights out of other pieces on Hawaii and Los Angeles but I think my favourite was the last piece, “Goodbye to All That”, a marvelous essay about her twenties living in New York City. The mood and atmosphere of this essay, her youthful mindset and the new world of the city, are vividly conveyed and the concluding disillusionment and discontent tie in appropriately with the theme of decay that runs throughout the book. This is a powerful collection of essays which both reflect their time and transcend it.

Joan Didion has done a remarkable collection of short Essays this time.
This is a great book to pick up when you need a break and have time to complete a full thought in a half hour or so.
Being a Californian replant I'm enjoying the memories she has of her time living here and the contrast that she weaves with East coast living.
Positives are evident in both and lessons learned evident in every environment we encounter.

Diane Keaton clearly has not done her homework prior to doing this audio book.I sure hope that's the reason. I am a big fan of audio books, and have to say, her presentation is so lame, it almost makes me think she was doing it for a Woody Allen comedy

I had never read this collection of essays-- or any Joan Didion-- but I thought it would be interesting to get a perspective of magazine articles from 50 years ago. Not to pick on Ms. Didion-- most other similar collections would likely not hold up well-- but many of the articles seemed somewhere between quaint and irrelevant. Even as period pieces, they do not bring any insight ( kind of like watching Easy Rider)
That said the title essay-- Slouching toward Bethlehem-- was interesting in that it covered the problems with San Francisco hippie culture in early 1967, a time when most publications were wowing the new society and getting it all wrong. I congratulate Ms. Didion on her insight on this.