South and West

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.

South and West by Joan Didion presents a look into the notebooks in which she has always kept records of overheard dialogue, observations, interviews, and drafts of essays and articles. Here is one such draft tracing 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, and 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.

From a different notebook come the "California Notes," which began as an assignment from Rolling Stone on the Patty Hearst trial of 1976. Though Didion never completed 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 reflections on the West, its landscape, the western women who were heroic for her, and her own lineage.