All the Didion touchstones are here: the brutality of Californian existence, personal history, and so on. If you like her, you'll like it, if you don't like her, you'll freaking hate it. I'm in the former camp, and she weaves together bits of family lore, investigative journalism, history, and personal anecdote into this odd, weightless text. Some might call it rambling, but I prefer to think of it as skeining together this utterly unexpected multitude of discourses.

Sweeping history of the evolution of California? Interesting in parts but difficult to follow much of the time. There was too much detail on seemingly irrelevant tangents. Very different writing style from ‘Magical Thinking,’ which I listened to on audible. That could have been the difference. Reading her work, I notice that the sentence structure is meandering, I had to read some passages multiple times to get the jist.

Il sottotitolo è fuorviante. Questa non è un'autobiografia, ma un saggio sulla California, Stato di origine dell'autrice, e sul cosa si intende per essere e sentirsi californiano. A tratti alla storia generale si intreccia quella particolare di Didion.

Joan Didion thoughtfully and dispassionately examines the contradictions in California's ethos, the central one being a State that prides itself on rugged individualism and the spirit of entrepreneurism, which was only sustained by massive Federal subsidies of the railroads, waterways, and military contracts. Most of these contradictions are explored through her family's multigenerational history in the Central Valley, and through the writings of Jack London, William Faulkner, and her own debut novel, Run River.

No he conseguido conectar con este Didion. Si bien, hay capítulos en los que habla de sus propias experiencias y vivencias de su juventud que sí han conseguido llegarme.

Hay demasiado contenido histórico de California, sobre las infraestructuras, la sociedad y la política que desluce bastante las partes más personales del libro. 2.5/5

Es indudable que Joan Didion escribe de maravilla y eso es lo único que hace soportable para un público ajeno la historia (muy detallada por momentos) de la fundación del estado de California. El comienzo, sobre todo, es bastante tedioso, pero la historia mejora según se va acercando a la época contemporánea y permite comprender algunas particularidades sobre ese estado de Estados Unidos. De todos modos, me parece un tema demasiado específico como para resultar una lectura amena a quien no esté especialmente interesado.

Joan Didion was of two minds about California. On one hand, there was the flagrant boosterism of her family. On the other -- and this is the amazing thing about Didion -- she had gotten to the point that she no longer automatically swallowed everything that was placed on her fork. She would look at it analytically and decide whether to accept or reject it.

That's all well and good, because the original Joan was a Goldwater Republican with some John Birch Society leanings in her family. As she grew up, she would ask questions -- beginning with her first book of essays, Slouching Toward Bethlehem and continuing at an increasing level for the rest of her writing career.

I loved Where I Was From, particularly Joan's second look at the sacrosanct pioneers who came Out West in their covered wagons. In fact, she quotes Josiah Royce (himself a Californian) that they were, for the most part, "a blind and stupid and homeless generation of selfish wanderers." So much for the founding fathers of the Golden State!

Joan's death in 2021 hit me hard, because I consider her one of the great essayists of the last hundred years, and not a bad writer of novels either.

El mes pasado terminé esta suerte de selección de artículos y reportajes y pude constatar algunos aspectos: 1. Didion es una estilista obsesiva; macera el lenguaje, lo cocina con un mimo que contradice a todos aquellos que emparentan su narrativa con la de Hunter S. Thompson. 2. Todo lo que escribe me interesa: amor propio, fracaso, John Wayne, la importancia de tener un cuaderno de notas, contracultura, migraña, medios de comunicación, violaciones, violencia política… 3. Pongo ojitos a toda la obra de Joan Didion. Probablemente, nada de lo que diga a propósito de sus aportaciones al periodismo y a la literatura será imparcial. Pero poco importa. Creo que todo es mucho mejor cuando ella está entre nuestras lecturas y nos ofrece aquello que necesitamos para comprendernos: «Aquel fue el año, mi vigésimo octavo año, en que descubrí que no todas las promesas se iban a cumplir, que hay cosas que de hecho son irrevocables y que a fin de cuentas todo había contado: hasta la última evasión y postergación, hasta la última equivocación y la última palabra, todo».

4.5 Stars

Toll kuratierte Interviewsammlung mit spannenden Einblicken in Didions Leben und Gedanken

Undoubtedly less fluid than her other writings, but it's still a fascinating read. Includes a lot of rich California history/stories which I really learned from/appreciated.

Didion puede hablar con la misma brillantez del amor romántico que de los asesinatos producidos en El Salvador. Te puede contar porqué es importante escribir un cuaderno de notas igual que analiza como el caso de una violación de una mujer de éxito de NY a manos de unos chavales negros es una propaganda perfecta para vender el sueño americano. Es la mejor escritora de nuestro tiempo.

I first read Joan Didion in 2019. The Year Of Magical Thinking. I was hypnotized by her sharp and straight-forward writing. I also felt sorry for her losses. I became a personal fan of hers because I admired her strength to go on. Joan Didion died last month. As a tribute, I picked up Where I Was From. This was a different Didion book for me because of the history meshed with Joan's own family history in California. She was always honest in writing, and points out the contradictions of California. I loved the stories of the past. And a lovely bonus was the connections to Joan. I got to know her more through her California upbringing. A favourite.