Notes to John
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4.5 • 20 Ratings
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An extraordinary work from the author of The Year of Magical Thinking and Blue Nights
In November 1999, Joan Didion began seeing a psychiatrist because, as she wrote to a friend, her family had had “a rough few years.” She described the sessions in a journal she created for her husband, John Gregory Dunne.
For several months, Didion recorded conversations with the psychiatrist in meticulous detail. The initial sessions focused on alcoholism, adoption, depression, anxiety, guilt, and the heartbreaking complexities of her relationship with her daughter, Quintana. The subjects evolved to include her work, which she was finding difficult to maintain for sustained periods. There were discussions about her own childhood—misunderstandings and lack of communication with her mother and father, her early tendency to anticipate catastrophe—and the question of legacy, or, as she put it, “what it’s been worth.” The analysis would continue for more than a decade.
Didion’s journal was crafted with the singular intelligence, precision, and elegance that characterize all of her writing. It is an unprecedently intimate account that reveals sides of her that were unknown, but the voice is unmistakably hers—questioning, courageous, and clear in the face of a wrenchingly painful journey.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
True to its title, Notes to John wasn’t written for publication. In late 1999, Joan Didion began therapy—at her adult daughter Quintana’s suggestion—and wrote these reflections after each session, addressed to her husband and creative partner, John Gregory Dunne. These writings still have the brilliant hallmarks of her essays. In a typically Didion turn of phrase, she refers to her fear that the alcoholic and emotionally troubled Quintana might die soon simply as “The call in the middle of the night.” Still, this is a more unguarded Joan than we’re used to. Unlike the cool detachment of iconic collections like The White Album, these pages reveal flashes of anger, confusion, and a deep grappling with her own lifelong anxiety and need for control. Fans will find it raw, revealing, and deeply moving.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This intimate posthumous volume brings together notes from the early 2000s that Didion (Let Me Tell You What I Mean) addressed to her husband, John Gregory Dunne, on her sessions with psychiatrist Roger MacKinnon, whom she started seeing at the behest of her daughter, Quintana Roo Dunne, in an effort to repair their relationship. The dispatches act as a cipher to 2011's Blue Nights, Didion's oblique meditation on Quintana's death in 2005 at age 39, revealing in greater detail Quintana's struggle with alcoholism and mental illness. According to the notes, MacKinnon encouraged Didion to work through how her own neuroses might be impacting Quintana, such as feeling guilty over having spent so much time working instead of playing with Quintana when she was young. Other recurring topics include the closeness of Didion and Dunne (MacKinnon suggests that the couple's tendency to sometimes hold back from expressing themselves to protect their professional relationship left Quintana feeling alienated and confused as to what a healthy marriage looked like), and the need for the pair to allow Quintana space to explore her own desires so she could move beyond simply trying to please them. More than mere notes, Didion's fly-on-the-wall reports recap the therapy sessions word-for-word, offering an unvarnished look into the personal life and psychology of the oft-enigmatic writer. As poignant as it is candid, this is essential reading for Didion devotees.
Customer Reviews
DNF - Relentless
My second Didion attempt and I just could not get behind it.
Likely because of my personal headspace and in the current climate, looking for more uplifting material….
I understand documenting the journey is the point, but the relentless onslaught of tragedy following this well-heeled author is astounding.
At the same time, absolutely interested in reading "I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki,” by Baek Se-hee who just passed away at 35 - maybe for a more youthful tone? … as weird as that is….