Didion’s Perfect Synthesis

November 13, 2014

“Many writers write vexed introspection, or detail-oriented reporting, or counterintuitive cultural commentary, or lifestyle journalism. But so far only Didion has done all four in perfect synthesis, a prose that, at its best, can fire on every cylinder and work on multiple fields of the imagination at once.” In support of the Kickstarter project for the documentary on Joan DidionWe Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to LiveNathan Heller looks back over Didion’s writing career, her “imaginatively seductive” nonfiction writing and her carefully constructed confessionalism in a piece for Vogue.

is a staff writer for The Millions. She lives in New York and every so often writes things at kaulielewis.wordpress.com.