Her precise, thrilling essays on public life do battle with conventional wisdom.

Few writers examined their own assumptions and misapprehensions as intelligently as Didion.

Grace Kelly, Joan Didion, and Sylvia Plath were all guests. For some women, it was a launch pad. For others, it was a trap.

Roberto Lovato’s “Unforgetting” explores the traumatic history of a country torn apart by wars and gangs—and the dangers of not facing the past.

A new biography evokes the enchanted sprawl and smog of Los Angeles in the 1970s.

Elizabeth Hardwick’s argumentative life among the New York Intellectuals

Interest in Joan Didion's personal life—and her personal belongings—has become insatiable.

DIY Culture, homemaking, and the end of expertise