Joan Didionová

Kultová, kánonická, kľúčová – prvá kniha esejí Joan Didion Vlečie sa do Betlehema zachytáva USA šesťdesiatych rokov v okamihu, keď sa starý poriadok rozpadá a nový sa ešte len bolestivo rodí. Prvýkrát vyšla v zlomovom roku 1968 a kritika ju označila za jedno z najlepších diel v krajine. Didion píše o San Franciscu, Johnovi Waynovi, Howardovi Hughesovi či o nevinnosti, ktorá sa mení na nepokoj, jazykom zároveň chladným aj hypnotickým. Jej texty nie sú len svedectvom jednej osoby, ale aj presným portrétom krajiny a spoločnosti v stave zneistenia. Vlečie sa do Betlehema je zásadná kniha modernej americkej literatúry a dôkaz, že esej môže byť rovnako prenikavá ako román.

A recently discovered journal from one of America's most iconic writers, Joan Didion, the author of The Year of Magical Thinking and Blue Nights. A pile of neatly typed pages was found in Joan Didion's office after her death. She had meticulously recorded her weekly sessions with a psychiatrist. As far as anyone knows, the pages had been read by only one other person: Didion's husband, John Gregory Dunne. The sessions began as a method of dealing with the heartbreaking alcoholism of their adult daughter, Quintana. Discussions broadened into revelations about Didion's own childhood, longstanding behaviour patterns, marriage, guilt, work and 'what's been worth'. Writing was the way Didion dealt with life. Notes to John presents a riveting account of the therapeutic process, crafted with the singular intelligence, precision and elegance that characterise all of her work.

This hardcover omnibus edition of Didion's collected nonfiction contains her final four books: Blue Nights, South and West, Let Me Tell You What I Mean, and her bestselling and most famous work, The Year of Magical Thinking In her essay “Why I Write” (included in this volume), Joan Didion explained what lies behind her iconic nonfiction writing: "I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means.” Across her long and prolific career, readers have been blessed time and again by her brilliance as a prose stylist and a social commentator. Form her unforgettable reckonings with grief (for her husband in The Year of Magical Thinking and for her daughter in Blue Nights), to her exploration of two iconic regions of America in South and West, through the indelible pieces of reporting collected from across her career in Let Me Tell You What I Mean, the books collected here show Didion at her best: bearing witness to our history, illuminating our culture, and shedding light on the human condition.

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER‘Utterly fascinating'' NEW YORK TIMES''A profound, rich document’NEW STATESMAN''An act of intimate storytelling''VOGUEA recently discovered journal from one of America''s most iconic writers, Joan Didion, the author of The Year of Magical Thinking and Blue Nights.In November 1999, Joan Didion began seeing a psychiatrist because, as she wrote to a friend, her family had had ''a rough few years''. She described the sessions in a journal she created for her husband, John Gregory Dunne.For several months, Didion recorded conversations with the psychiatrist in meticulous detail. The initial sessions focused on the heartbreaking complexities of her relationship with her daughter, Quintana: adoption, depression, alcoholism, anxiety, guilt. The subjects evolved to include her work, which she was finding difficult to maintain for sustained periods. There were discussions about her own childhood – misunderstandings and lack of communication with her mother and father, her early tendency to anticipate catastrophe – and the question of legacy, or, as she put it, ''what it’s been worth''. The analysis would continue for more than a decade.Didion’s journal was crafted with the singular intelligence, precision, and elegance that characterize all of her writing. It is an unprecedently intimate account that reveals sides of her that were unknown, but the voice is unmistakably hers – questioning, courageous, and clear in the face of a wrenchingly painful journey.''An incredibly intimate insight into her relationship with her daughter, depression, and creativity''GUARDIAN''So moving. I am astonished at the level of recall … They are a record of trying to save a life, and understand her own''NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW ''Sheds intriguing light on the question of Quintana’s part in the family dynamic'' OBSERVER''The literary source for the three great works of Didion''s old age'' INDEPENDENT''It’s always a pleasure to read Didion’s measured prose'' STANDARD''Written with the immediacy of fresh recollection … and with the cool, forensic clarity she was known for''NEW YORKER''Compulsive … it shows Didion the reporter at work''TELEGRAPH''An intimate chronicle … Notes to John offers readers a key to Didion''s persona and her work''NPR''Perhaps for the first time, we can hope to see Didion as she saw the world: unwavering and unflinching, straight down the line''AnOTHER''An unexpected parting gift to biographers and civilian readers'' AIRMAIL''Fascinating … offers insight into her work''iPAPER''A tour de force from one of the best''PEOPLE''Notes to John'' was a New York Times bestseller w/c 2025-04-28.

Kniha Joan Didion osciluje na pomedzí eseje, autobiografie a románu. Autorka v nej mapuje jeden rok od smrti svojho muža Johna Gregoryho Dunnea. Vťahuje nás do svojho „magického“ myslenia, ktoré sa pre jeho stratu stalo myslením vychýleným, odkloneným od reality. V období takmer štyridsiatich rokov s ním zdieľala nielen rodinu s adoptovanou dcérou (o ktorú prišla o dva roky po smrti Johna), povolanie spisovateľky a publicistky, ale predovšetkým spoločne prežitý čas života: „dvadsaťštyri hodín denne, čo zostávalo zdrojom bujarého veselia aj zlej predtuchy pre moju mamu a tety. ,V dobrom aj v zlom, ale nikdy nie celý deň,‘ hovorievali mi v prvých rokoch manželstva. Nedokážem spočítať, koľkokrát za deň, celkom obyčajný deň, sa objavilo niečo, čo som mu nutne musela povedať. Toto nutkanie ma neprešlo ani po jeho smrti. Už mi však nemal kto odpovedať.“ So stratou sa nevyrovnáva, ale ju cez krátke spomienky vkladané do pradiva svojho života opätovne prežíva a zakomponováva do novej, nevyžiadanej etapy bytia bez Johna. Vťahuje nás do rozličných období a prostredí, sme svedkami veselých i smutnejších príhod i osudov rôznych ľudí. Text Joan Didion sa číta aj nečíta ľahko, je boľavý aj liečivý, môže byť návodom, porovnávacou štúdiou, odkazom z minulosti alebo prípravou na budúcnosť. Rok magického myslenia sa stal takmer okamžite klasikou a denník Guardian ho zaradil na 2. miesto v rebríčku 100 najlepších non-fiction kníh všetkých čias.

Román Kniha denních modliteb zasadila americká prozaička a reportérka Joan Didionová do fiktivní, politicky nestabilní středoamerické země jménem Boca Grande. Zde se protínají životní dráhy vypravěčky a vystudované antropoložky Grace Strasser-Mendanové a zdánlivě bezelstné Charlotte Douglasové, po jejíž dceři pátrá FBI. I v tomto románu se legendární spisovatelka představuje jako nesmiřitelná, břitká a nadmíru přesná pozorovatelka geopolitických událostí i privátních dramat s citem pro dialog a zkratku. Schopnost podmanivě načrtnout lidský osud a v ostře nasvícených situacích nahlodat představy o smyslu jedincova života i o možnosti jeho poznání jsou důvodem, proč knihy Joan Didionové dodnes nabízejí strhující a zneklidňující čtenářský zážitek.

Kniha Joan Didion osciluje na pomedzí eseje, autobiografie a románu. Autorka v nej mapuje jeden rok od smrti svojho muža Johna Gregoryho Dunnea. Vťahuje nás do svojho „magického“ myslenia, ktoré sa pre jeho stratu stalo myslením vychýleným, odkloneným od reality. V období takmer štyridsiatich rokov s ním zdieľala nielen rodinu s adoptovanou dcérou (o ktorú prišla o dva roky po smrti Johna), povolanie spisovateľky a publicistky, ale predovšetkým spoločne prežitý čas života: „dvadsaťštyri hodín denne, čo zostávalo zdrojom bujarého veselia aj zlej predtuchy pre moju mamu a tety. ,V dobrom aj v zlom, ale nikdy nie celý deň,‘ hovorievali mi v prvých rokoch manželstva. Nedokážem spočítať, koľkokrát za deň, celkom obyčajný deň, sa objavilo niečo, čo som mu nutne musela povedať. Toto nutkanie ma neprešlo ani po jeho smrti. Už mi však nemal kto odpovedať.“ So stratou sa nevyrovnáva, ale ju cez krátke spomienky vkladané do pradiva svojho života opätovne prežíva a zakomponováva do novej, nevyžiadanej etapy bytia bez Johna. Vťahuje nás do rozličných období a prostredí, sme svedkami veselých i smutnejších príhod i osudov rôznych ľudí. Text Joan Didion sa číta aj nečíta ľahko, je boľavý aj liečivý, môže byť návodom, porovnávacou štúdiou, odkazom z minulosti alebo prípravou na budúcnosť. Rok magického myslenia sa stal takmer okamžite klasikou a denník Guardian ho zaradil na 2. miesto v rebríčku 100 najlepších non-fiction kníh všetkých čias. „Napínavá... živá a ostrá, nezabudnuteľná kniha... Presný, úprimný a prenikavý opis pocitov smútenia potom, ako autorka ovdovela... knihe nechýba vtip, pretože sa nebojí pravdy.“ Robert Pinsky, The New York Times Book Review „Ohromujúco úprimná kniha plná prenikavých detailov... Nezmazateľný obraz straty a smútku.“ Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times „Neviem o inej knihe, ktorú by sme potrebovali viac než túto... Nedokážem si predstaviť umieranie bez tejto knihy.“ John Leonard, New York Review of Books

V románu Demokracie se v rychlých střizích střídají výjevy z New Yorku a Havaje, Jakarty a Kuala Lumpuru, vojenských základen a luxusních hotelů. Spojené státy prožívají definitivní debakl války ve Vietnamu a protagonistka knihy Inez Victorová kolísá mezi dvěma mocnými muži, senátorem Harrym Victorem a agentem Jackem Lovettem. Důležitou postavou v jejím příběhu je i jeho vypravěčka Joan Didionová. Ta v románu vystupuje pod vlastním jménem a projevuje se jako nesmiřitelná pozorovatelka života privilegovaných Američanů. V pořadí čtvrtý román proslulé americké spisovatelky a reportérky je považován za jeden z jejích tvůrčích vrcholů. Zvláště působivě se zde spojuje její nenapodobitelná prozaická břitkost a reportérská pronikavost.

Introducing the Collins Modern Classics, a series featuring some of the most significant books of recent times, books that shed light on the human experience - classics which will endure for generations to come. A single person is missing for you, and the whole world is empty John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion saw their daughter fall ill. At first they thought it was flu, then she was placed on life support. Days later, the Dunnes were sitting down to dinner when John suffered a massive and fatal coronary. This powerful book is Didion's 'attempt to make sense of the weeks and then months that cut loose any fixed idea I ever had about death, about illness'. The result is a personal yet universal portrait of marriage and life, in good times and bad, from one of the defining voices of American literature.

From one of our most iconic and influential writers: twelve pieces never before collected that offer an illuminating glimpse into the mind and process of this legendary figure. Mostly drawn from the earliest part of her astonishing five-decade career, Didion writes about a Gamblers Anonymous meeting, a visit to William Randolph Hearst's castle at San Simeon, a reunion of WWII veterans in Las Vegas, and about topics ranging from Nancy Reagan to Robert Mapplethorpe, Martha Stewart and Ernest Hemingway. With an Introduction by Hilton Als, this stunning collection reveals what would become her subjects: the press, politics, California robber barons, women, the act of writing, and her own self-doubt. Each piece is classic Didion: incisive, bemused, and stunningly prescient.

From one of the most important chroniclers of our time, come two extended excerpts from her never-before-seen notebooks-writings that offer an illuminating glimpse into the mind and process of a legendary writer. Joan Didion has always kept notebooks: of overheard dialogue, observations, interviews, drafts of essays and articles Here is one such draft that traces a road trip she took with her husband, John Gregory Dunne, in June 1970, through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. She interviews prominent local figures, describes motels, diners, a deserted reptile farm, a visit with Walker Percy, a ladies' brunch at the Mississippi Broadcasters' Convention. She writes about the stifling heat, the almost viscous pace of life, the sulfurous light, and the preoccupation with race, class, and heritage she finds in the small towns they pass through. And from a different notebook: the "California Notes" that began as an assignment from Rolling Stone on the Patty Hearst trial of 1976. Though Didion never wrote the piece, watching the trial and being in San Francisco triggered thoughts about the city, its social hierarchy, the Hearsts, and her own upbringing in Sacramento. Here, too, is the beginning of her thinking about the West, its landscape, the western women who were heroic for her, and her own lineage.

Joan Didion’s hugely influential collection of essays which defines, for many, the America which rose from the ashes of the Sixties. We tell ourselves stories in order to live. The princess is caged in the consulate. The man with the candy will lead the children into the sea. In this now legendary journey into the hinterland of the American psyche, Didion searches for stories as the Sixties implode. She waits for Jim Morrison to show up, visits the Black Panthers in prison, parties with Janis Joplin and buys dresses with Charles Manson’s girls. She and her reader emerge, cauterized, from this devastating tour of that age of self discovery into the harsh light of the morning after.

Joan Didion's savage masterpiece, which, since first publication in 1968, has been acknowledged as an unparalleled report on the state of America during the upheaval of the Sixties Revolution. We forget all too soon the things we thought we could never forget. We forget the loves and the betrayals alike, forget what we whispered and what we screamed, forget who we were In her non-fiction work, Joan Didion not only describes the subject at hand - her younger self loving and leaving New York, the murderous housewife, the little girl trailing the rock group, the millionaire bunkered in his mansion - but also offers a broader vision of the world, one that is both terrifying and tender, ominous and uniquely her own.

From one of the most important chroniclers of our time, come two extended excerpts from her never-before-seen notebooks-writings that offer an illuminating glimpse into the mind and process of a legendary writer. Joan Didion has always kept notebooks: of overheard dialogue, observations, interviews, drafts of essays and articles Here is one such draft that traces a road trip she took with her husband, John Gregory Dunne, in June 1970, through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. She interviews prominent local figures, describes motels, diners, a deserted reptile farm, a visit with Walker Percy, a ladies' brunch at the Mississippi Broadcasters' Convention. She writes about the stifling heat, the almost viscous pace of life, the sulfurous light, and the preoccupation with race, class, and heritage she finds in the small towns they pass through. And from a different notebook: the "California Notes" that began as an assignment from Rolling Stone on the Patty Hearst trial of 1976. Though Didion never wrote the piece, watching the trial and being in San Francisco triggered thoughts about the city, its social hierarchy, the Hearsts, and her own upbringing in Sacramento. Here, too, is the beginning of her thinking about the West, its landscape, the western women who were heroic for her, and her own lineage.

From one of America's iconic writers, a portrait of a marriage and a life - in good times and bad - that will speak to anyone who has ever loved a husband or wife or child. A stunning book of electric honesty and passion. Several days before Christmas 2003, John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion saw their only daughter, Quintana, fall ill. At first they thought it was flu, then pneumonia, then complete sceptic shock. She was put into an induced coma and placed on life support. Days later - the night before New Year's Eve -the Dunnes were just sitting down to dinner after visiting the hospital when John suffered a massive and fatal coronary. In a second, this close, symbiotic partnership of 40 years was over. Four weeks later, their daughter pulled through. Two months after that, arriving at LA airport, she collapsed and underwent six hours of brain surgery at UCLA Medical Centre to relieve a massive hematoma. This powerful book is Didion's `attempt to make sense of the weeks and then months that cut loose any fixed idea I ever had about death, about illness ... about marriage and children and memory ... about the shallowness of sanity, about life itself'. The result is an exploration of an intensely personal yet universal experience: a portrait of a marriage, and a life, in good times and bad.

A profoundly disturbing novel that ruthlessly dissects American life in the late 1960s, from the author of The White Album and The Year of Magical Thinking. One thing in my defence, not that it matters: I know what 'nothing' means, and keep on playing Somewhere out beyond Hollywood, hollowed-out actress Maria Wyeth's life plays out in a numbing routine of perpetual freeway driving. In her early thirties, divorced from her husband, dislocated from friends, anesthetized to pain and pleasure, Wheth is a woman who has run out of both desires and motives - the epitome of a generation made ill by too much freedom. More than five decades after its original publication, Play it as it Lays remains a profoundly disturbing novel that ruthlessly dissects American life in the late 1960s, from the author of The White Album and The Year of Magical Thinking.