Paige Finn DohertyFounding Partner, Behind Genius · Founding Partner at Behind Genius Ventures

why Joan Didion is so special

23 Mar 2023 · 1 min

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In this short commentary, the speaker explains how Joan Didion profoundly shaped their own writing style. They highlight Didion’s sharp, clear observational voice and her commitment to criticality and near‑objectivity, contrasting it with more positively‑biased literature they had read before. The speaker cites Didion’s essay collection Slouching Towards Bethlehem and specifically the essay “On Self‑Respect,” noting its impact. Overall, the talk celebrates Didion’s unique approach to observing people and places and how that influence informs the speaker’s work.

Chapters

The queen, Joan Didion. Joan Didion shaped my writing style so much. She has this particular sharpness and clarity of observing people and places and writing with like a criticality that I hadn't seen before. I think I've read a lot of books that come from a very like positive place, and I think what made Joan Didion so special was really her commitment to keeping a level of like criticality and almost like objectivity over her life. Um, Sausaging Towards Bethlehem is a collection of essays, and I think one of my favorites from her— oh, already have a bookmark there— is called On Self-Respect, and she talks about how she didn't get into this honor society