The American literary icon, born Dec. 5, 1934, dies at 87 from Parkinson's disease at her New York apartment on Dec. 23, 2021. Remember this journalist, memoirist, essayist, and thinker through her words from her many famous books, including Blue Nights and The Year of Magical Thinking
Creating a sense of definition in my life, I always say that I’m guided by two writers: Carrie Bradshaw and Joan Didion. The former is fictional, of course, while the latter is real—real to me now more than ever.
I first heard the name Joan Didion on The Devil Wears Prada, the part where Andy told Nate that there was more to Runway than just fancy purses, citing Jay McInerney, Joan Didion, and Christiane Amanpour.
I first saw the name Joan Didion while I was browsing the shelves of Fully Booked many years ago. I stopped and stared at the copy of her book The Year of Magical Thinking, then told myself I was going to buy it when I received my next salary. Luckily and because I went on and on about it, a dear friend gifted it to me a few days later. It remains, to this day, one of the best gifts I’ve ever received.
Immediately after reading the book, I wanted more. No, I needed more. I was so captivated by Joan’s prose that I took on a personal mission to read all of her books.
After everything I’ve read by Joan Didion so far, I always find myself talking about and going back to this quote from Slouching Towards Bethlehem: “See enough and write it down.” Putting it into practice, I’ve written down almost a hundred Joan Didion quotes.
I noted them down for many reasons, to further understand them, turn them into personal proverbs, share them with my students in class, and so much more. Using them to honor Joan Didion’s memory is one reason I never thought would be part of the list.
I don’t know what I think until I write it down. (The Center Will Not Hold)
When asked about her writing process, Joan shared how everything would unfold as she wrote. After all, there’s a sense of clarity when you write things down.
In time of trouble, I had been trained since childhood—read, learn, work it up, go to the literature. Information was control. (The Year of Magical Thinking)
Aside from advocating writing, Joan would always remind everyone of the importance of reading.
I am still committed to the idea that the ability to think for one’s self depends upon one’s mastery of the language. (Slouching Towards Bethlehem)
Here’s another reason Joan kept telling us to read and write. This is also one of the many reasons why I keep reading and writing.
How had I gotten from there to here: there, as always, was the question. (South and West)
Oh, you know how life can be sometimes. You end up at one place without even remembering how you got there or where you came from. This is also why Joan wrote everything down.
I think we are well advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be, whether we find them attractive company or not. Otherwise they turn up unannounced and surprise us, come hammering on the mind’s door at 4 a.m. of a bad night and demand to know who deserted them, who betrayed them, who is going to make amends. (Slouching Towards Bethlehem)
What a haunting reminder, right? In The Center Will Not Hold, Joan shared that she kept a notebook to help her remember what and who she was.
Paying bills sometimes lent her the illusion of order, but now each bill she opened seemed fresh testimony to her life’s disorder, its waste and diffusion. (Play It As It Lays)
As someone who started living alone this year, I now fully understand this. Trust Joan to turn a mundane thing into something so profound.
Character—the willingness to accept responsibility for one’s own life—is the source from which self-respect springs. (Slouching Towards Bethlehem)
Still on the subject of adulthood, her essay “On Self-Respect” is basically required reading. It’s the slap on the face everyone needs every once in a while.
Grief turns out to be a place none of us know until we reach it. (The Year of Magical Thinking)
Grief is, means, and looks different for each and every one. In The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan writes about grief in a way so painfully beautiful. Also a must-read.
I know why we try to keep the dead alive: we try to keep them alive in order to keep them with us. I also know that if we are to live ourselves, there comes a point at which we must relinquish the dead, let them go, keep them dead. Let them become the photograph on the table. Let them become the name on the trust accounts. Let go of them in the water. (The Year of Magical Thinking)
Oh, Joan. Like many others, I will keep you alive to keep you with me for as long as I can. Thank you so much for your words.
Memory fades, memory adjusts, memory conforms to what we think we remember. (Blue Nights)
What a relatable quote that tells us we’re all human. Joan, thank you for writing so many things down. The world is better with your books in it. Your memory will never fade. Joan, in White Album, you said that we told ourselves stories in order to live. Well, I will never stop telling your stories to keep you alive.