Joan Didion 's marvelously preserved collection

     The late writer Joan Didion fascinated people.The fascination began with her writing -which combined a spare,elegant prose style with rigour and deep research to create classic nonfiction like THE WHITE ALBUM and THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING.But people were also fascinated by her life with husband and fellow author,John Gregory Dunne.They were famous for throwing impossibly glamorous house parties that brought together rock stars,intellectuals and artists.And now,for those who hung on every word Didion and Dunne wrote,there are a lot more words to hang on.Hundreds of boxes full of words.In January 2023,The New York Public Library announced that it had acquired the couple's papers-including years of manuscripts,photographs,research materials,and of course,dinner invitations.

                                    The news is out now.It's a large collection;over 200 record cartons of materials.It's an incredibly moving collection.And really covers,particularly,Didion's life literally from her birth.Her baby footprint all the way to her death.

                                    Joan Didion was an absolutely remarkable dinner party thrower.She kept,sort of almost religiously,binders and binders of recipes as well as guest lists.These were sensory experiences filled with conversation and the careful pairing of food and ambience.It's going to be fascinating to see the way that scholars explore that part of her life and the way that it had affected and shaped her ideas.-CBC radio,As It Happens,January 27,2023.

                        P.S:I am so glad that Joan Didion preserved her memorabilia and life story so impeecably instead of throwing out too much,like many Americans.