Remembering Joan Didion at the Algonquin Hotel on December 7th
A celebration of the writer featuring Evelyn McDonnell, author of The World According to Joan Didion, with Cara Buckley, Peter Noel, Alex Segura, and Tammy Faye Starlite
“Evelyn McDonnell has written a wonderfully fitting tribute to Joan Didion: one that avoids simple platitudes, approaching the great writer with a fierce, probing intelligence, flawless language, and the impulse, which drove Didion’s finest work, to understand the dreams of another.” —Hua Hsu, Pulitzer Prize-winning author
“The task of writing seriously about another writer must be daunting, but how do you even approach channeling the life and mind of narrative journalist trailblazer and cultural critic icon Joan Didion? Well, The World According to Joan Didion according to Evelyn McDonnell is a brilliant, visceral interpretation of ‘the queen of California noir.’ So keen that I caught myself smiling, asking myself, ‘How did she do that?’—as I do while poring over Didion—and secretly wishing I could write like that myself.”—Allison Wolfe, Bratmobile singer and riot grrrl
“McDonnell’s deep knowledge and expertise shine brightly in THE WORLD ACCORDING TO JOAN DIDION, a heartfelt guide to Didion’s wide library of work that will not only serve newcomers looking to dive in, but also change the long-standing perceptions of the many who’ve read Didion’s classics numerous times.” —Alex Segura, bestselling author of Secret Identity
Eighty-nine years and two days after her birth and almost two years after her death, the author and journalist Joan Didionwill be celebrated December 7th at “Remembering Joan Didion,” a gathering of writers and performers at the historic Algonquin Hotel in New York. Evelyn McDonnell, author of The World According to Joan Didion (Harper One, 2023), will be joined by Cara Buckley (New York Times), Peter Noel (Village Voice), Shana L. Redmond (Everything Man: The Form and Function of Paul Robeson), Alex Segura (Secret Identity), and performer Tammy Faye Starlite (She’s a Rainbow). Artwork by Anne Muntges will be available for purchase.
In The World According to Joan Didion, Evelyn McDonnell, acclaimed journalist, essayist, critic, and university professor, provides an intimate exploration of the life, craft, and legacy of one of the most respected and significant writers of our time.
Joan Didion reshaped the geography of American literature by redirecting readers’ attention away from the east and toward the way the sun set over the Pacific Ocean. She wrote about the world she knew—the rivers, the freeways, the mountains, the ocean, the buildings—and she wrote about it with such an eye for detail and an ear for music, and with such a mix of appreciation and skepticism, the reader feels like they are along for the ride.
McDonnell provides a guide to the life of Joan Didion, groundbreaking journalist, essayist, novelist, and screenwriter. This book serves as a notebook and a map, a treasure hunt, an interrogation. Follow along with McDonnell as she talks to those who knew Didion and were inspired by her. Travel to the places Didion lived and documented, dig through archives and dive deep into her writing. This book is a meditation on the people, settings, and objects that propelled Didion’s prose and an invitation to journalists, storytellers, and all life adventurers to “throw themselves into the convulsions of the world,” as Didion once said.
“Remembering Joan Didion” will take place Thursday, December 7th from 6pm to 8pm at the Algonquin Hotel, 59 W. 44th St NYC. Admission is free, but please RSVP here. The event is hosted by Susie J. Horgan and Willis Loughhead. Books will be sold by Books and Books.
The Algonquin Hotel, Autograph Collection: A legendary literary hotel, exactly like no other, home of the infamous Round Table. The oldest operating hotel in New York City, since 1902.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Evelyn McDonnell has written or coedited multiple books, including Women Who Rock: Bessie to Beyonce, Girl Groups to Riot and Queens of Noise: The Real Story of the Runaways. She has been a pop culture writer at the Miami Herald and a senior editor at the Village Voice. Her writing has appeared in anthologies and publications, including the New York Times, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, Ms., and Billboard. She teaches journalism at Loyola Marymount University and lives in San Pedro, California. For more information about Evelyn McDonnell click here
Evelyn McDonnell will also be reading at the Book House, 281 Essex St. Millburn, NJ, November 30th at 6:30pm, and will be in conversation with Steffie Nelson, editor of Slouching Towards Los Angeles: Living and Writing by Joan Didion’s Light, at North Figueroa Bookstore, 6040 N. Figueroa, LA on December 14th at 7pm.
