A review by weian1999
Slouching Towards Los Angeles: Living and Writing by Joan Didion's Light by Steffie Nelson

3.0

The late Joan Didion made journalism appear to be rock and roll. At the time, her style was unorthodox, her cadence hypnotic. Her writing inspires. The collection of essays in this book was penned by two, perhaps three, generations of journalists and essayist and novelists. Because of the variety, some essays left me tasting ash in my mouth, possibly due to how their metaphors did not land, and how their writing attempts to straddle the line between Didion's style and theirs were painfully overwrought. Though, at other times reading how authors engage with Didion threatened me with sobs, and with less cynicism I enjoyed Steph Cha's Points on a Map, and Heather John Fogarty's On Keeping a Cookbook.