Let Me Tell You What I Mean
About this book
From one of our most iconic and influential writers: a timeless collection of mostly early pieces that reveal what would become Joan Didion's subjects, including the press, politics, California robber barons, women, and her own self-doubt. Here are six pieces written in 1968 from the "Points West" Saturday Evening Post column Joan Didion shared from 1964 to 1969 with her husband, John Gregory Dunne about: American newspapers; a session with Gamblers Anonymous; a visit to San Simeon; being rejected by Stanford; dropping in on Nancy Reagan, wife of the then-governor of California, while a TV crew filmed her at home; and an evening at the annual reunion of WWII veterans from the 101st Airborne Association at the Stardust Hotel in Las Vegas. Here too is a 1976 piece from the New York Times magazine on "Why I Write"; a piece about short stories from New West in 1978; and from The New Yorker, a piece on Hemingway from 1998, and on Martha Stewart from 2000. Each one is classic Didion: incisive, bemused, and stunningly prescient.
Reader Profile
4.2/5 · 56 readers · 184 pages · ≈ 3 h 24 m · Moderate
How long does it take to read Let Me Tell You What I Mean?
About ≈ 3 h 24 m — 184 pages, assuming roughly 250 words per page at 225 words per minute.
How many pages is Let Me Tell You What I Mean?
184 pages in its most-read edition.
What genre is Let Me Tell You What I Mean?
It sits on the Essays, Biography & Memoir shelves.
Is Let Me Tell You What I Mean in the public domain?
No — it is still under copyright.
Who wrote Let Me Tell You What I Mean?
Joan Didion.