jtrent238 test blog: Books Briefing: Joan Didion’s papers are coming to N.Y.P.L.

January 31, 2023

Joan Didion transcended ordinary literary fame to become a symbol of bicoastal chic and, with her husband, John Gregory Dunne, an ideal of intellectual-conjugal partnership.The archives of Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne/New York Public Library

Hi readers,

Here's some enticing news for Joan Didion acolytes: The New York Public Library has acquired the joint archive of Didion and her husband, John Gregory Dunne, including manuscripts, photographs, letters, dinner party guest lists and other personal items. (In those effects, among other tidbits, you can see a "real commitment to Chantilly cream" in her menu planning.)

It's hard to think of another author whose work and persona have commanded the fascination of readers over the decades. An auction of Didion's personal items — including notebooks, a typewriter, and yes, her notorious sunglasses — fetched runaway prices last year.

"With women writers, they are managing their own literary talents and also managing their images," said Julie Golia, the library's associate director of manuscripts, archives and rare books. And Didion "was remarkably talented at both. She knew exactly what she was doing."

The papers should be ready for unrestricted viewing by 2025, open to everyone with a library card. Céline sunglasses not required.

See you next week.

Joumana Khatib
The New York Times Book Review

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In other news:

Reindeer are central to Sámi life, so attacks against them are perceived as attacks against the community, Laestadius said.Thomas Ekström for The New York Times

Madeline McIntosh is leaving her post as chief executive of Penguin Random House U.S. Hers is the latest in a string of high-profile departures at the publisher, which has been navigating an exceptionally turbulent period.
Nearly six months after he was brutally attacked, Salman Rushdie is recovering and releasing a new novel, with the literary world rallying to his side. "Victory City" is due out next week, and comes armed with a stirring message: "Words are the only victors."
Ann-Helén Laestadius grew up among the Sámi, an Indigenous people living near the Arctic Circle, in Europe, part of a culture that had been suppressed for centuries. Her novel, "Stolen," a best seller in her native Sweden, brings that community to a broad audience.
Move over, Pablo Neruda — young Chileans have a new favorite poet. Long depicted as the fusty author of poems about children, Gabriela Mistral is being reclaimed as an anti-establishment icon.
The work of Ben Okri, the groundbreaking Nigerian British writer, is resonating with readers in the U.S. after the author went unpublished here for nearly 30 years. A novel, "The Last Gift of the Master Artists," is out today, and a poetry collection will follow next month. "Maybe nations go through a time when they just can't hear certain kinds of voices," Okri said of his reappearance stateside.

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