The Uptown Local

A persuasive case for the argument that writers should write about writers FINANCIAL TIMES

A beautifully written and deeply moving memoir DANA SPIOTTA

Since the tumultuous days of childhood, Cory Leadbeater sought refuge from the rougher parts of life in the pages of books. Then, as an aspiring writer in his early twenties, he found himself the personal assistant to a titan of literature: Joan Didion.

In the nine years that followed, Cory shared Joan's rarefied world, transformed by both her blazing intellect and generous friendship. Inwardly, Cory was spiralling: he reeled from the death of a close friend; he spent his weekends at prison, visiting his father. Life with Joan was an escape. Together they recited poetry in the mornings, dined with Supreme Court justices, attended art openings, smoked a single cigarette each before bed.

The Uptown Local explores the fault lines of class, family, loss and creativity. It is a moving testament to the relationships that sustain us in the eternal pursuit of a life worth living - and a love letter to a cultural icon.

Leadbeater makes us see there was so much more to Joan Didion (to all of us) than just one thing GUARDIAN

Poignant and intimate . . . a beautiful, heartrending book CRISTINA HENRIQUEZ

At once tender and brutal, surreal and direct, cerebral and visceral . . . A spectacular debut LILLY DANCYGER