Jennifer Klee

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Joan Didion pt. 1

Have you seen Netflix's Joan Didion documentary, Joan Didion, The Center Will Not Hold? I've been watching it in increments while also listening to The Year of Magical Thinking. I'm having a Joan Didion moment-- and I think immersion might be the best (only?) way to really appreciate her work. The lines that separate her life from her work from her husband's work are blurry, at best. Each one informs the other in a hazy California to New York loop and it all blends together in an elegant rainy-day sort of feeling. A rainy day where the sun comes out only right before it sets.

 I don't remember who said this in an interview- I think it was Cate Blanchett- 'when you're listening to Bob Dylan, you want to listen to Bob Dylan and Bob Dylan only." And I've found this to be absolutely true of Didion. Suddenly everything else on my horizon seems dull.