kimberly

My Joan Didion origin story: In 2022, I moved to Los Angeles. That same year, I read numerous books (fiction and nonfiction) that mentioned Joan Didion. Some authors mentioned her love of LA, some authors mentioned her wonderful prose, others authors mentioned their reliance on Didion's work. It was because of these two things—my move to LA and the multiple references to Didion in other books that I was reading— that I actually wrote in my journal one day: "Who IS this Joan Didion person? Her name has now appeared in the last three books that I have read... Is this a sign? Do I need Joan Didion in my life? It must be." To answer myself, I think, yes, it was a sign.