Beloved for her uniquely personal voice and her masterful ability to capture the mood of the culture with the sweep of her pen, Joan Didion remains a permanent influence and source of inspiration for artists, writers and creatives of all mediums. Dive into the world of this great American writer in Joan Didion: What She Means. A biographical exhibition in book form, author and curator Hilton Als has created a mosaic of visual media within these pages, which together explores Didion’s life and work and the feelings she generates in her readers and admirers. Inside, you’ll find a diverse collection of paintings, sculptures, photographs, film stills, movie posters, sketches and ephemera, which each illustrate a piece of her personal history or a cultural event that she wrote about. Interspersed throughout are brief essays from Als, which help to illuminate the connection between these images and Didion’s works, as well as three of Didion’s lesser-known texts — “In Praise of Unhung Wreaths and Love,” “Planting a Tree is Not a Way of Life” and “The Year of Hoping for Stage Magic” — which are anthologized here for the first time. A stunning tribute to one of the greatest storytellers of our time, Joan Didion: What She Means is the perfect addition to any art-lover or aspiring author’s coffee table.

•9.25"W x .5"D x 13"H

•by Hilton Als
•foreword by Ann Philbin
•various photographers
•clothbound hardcover
•128 pages