Joan Didion

Although we have already talked about Joan, I found myself picking up my copy of her stories the other day and re-reading through some of them. I have a sort of love/hate relationship with her up to this point. Most of her stories have this fantastic quality to them, and describe situations and the "American Dream" in much different ways than anything I've read. They are very honest, but seem to never be delivered to their potential. With many, I feel as though I get to the "juicy" part of the story, and then I'm left with nothing more. Sometimes this upsets me, as with a nonfiction piece, I expect their to be some kind of ending, even if it is a negative one. Joan seems to be more focused on leaving the hypothetical and unfinished dreams of depression up to the reader, forcing us to try to make a change based on the dramatic realism to be found within her work. I appreciate them for what they are, and do like them immensely, however, I do find myself wishing she would give me more. Especially since she is smarter than all of us! :)