Slouching Towards Bethlehem: Essays
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Similar to Babitz, Joan Didion played a role in teaching me to love my new city, LA. However, her voice contrasts to Babitz’ in that her writing style and tempo felt more like a mother’s voice giving me honest advice. Slouching Towards Bethlehem takes the form of a collection of essays/short stories — my favourite chapters are “On keeping a Journal” and “On self Respect.”
Celebrated, iconic, and indispensable, Joan Didion’s first work of nonfiction, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, is considered a watershed moment in American writing. First published in 1968, the collection was critically praised as one of the “best prose written in this country.”
More than perhaps any other book, this collection by one of the most distinctive prose stylists of our era captures the unique time and place of Joan Didion’s focus, exploring subjects such as John Wayne and Howard Hug...






















