Book Review of Slouching Towards Bethlehem: The Joy of the Short Story

“Slouching Towards Bethlehem” by Joan Didion is a collection of short stories Didion wrote in the 60s for different magazines.

Joan Didion was born December 5, 1934 in Sacramento, California (Joan 1). She “is an American essayist and novelist” (World Book 1). Didion is “a member of the NPQ Board of Advisors” (Biography 1). “She is also a member of the AmericanAcademy of Arts and Letters and the AmericanAcademy of Arts and Sciences” (Biography 1).

Didion is “best known for her essays that combined personal commentary with an apocalyptic view of American politics and culture” (Joan 1). She “often has used California’s culture and geography and the lives of its residents as topics and symbols” (World Book 1). “Didion writes in a spare and intense style that conveys a lack of roots and a sense of social disintegration” (World Book 1). “Her works include the novels RunRiver, A Book of Common Prayer and Democracy” (Biography 1).

Didion “was the associate feature editor for Vogue magazine, and a former columnist for publications such as The Saturday Evening Post, Life, and Esquire” (Biography 1). “Didion worked as a features editor at Vogue (1956-63) before becoming a freelance writer” (Joan 1). “She has collaborated on newspaper columns and screenplays with husband John Gregory Dunne, whom she married in 1964” (Joan 1). Together they wrote the screenplay for the movie “Up Close and Personal” (Eggers page 2 5).

Didion “no longer writes the sort of personal-social essays” like she used to (Eggers 1). “She still contributes journalism and critical essays to magazines like The New Yorker and The New York Review of Books” (Eggers 1). “Didion currently lives with her husband John in New York and has one daughter, Quintana” (Biography 1).