The Uptown Local: Joy, Death, and Joan Didion: A Memoir

by Cory Leadbeater

A brilliant debut memoir about a young writer—struggling with depression, family issues, and addiction—and his life-changing decade working for Joan Didion.

As an aspiring novelist in his early twenties, Cory Leadbeater was presented with an opportunity to work for a well-known writer whose identity was kept confidential. Since the tumultuous days of childhood, Cory had sought refuge from the rougher parts of life in the pages of books. Suddenly, he found himself the personal assistant to a titan of literature: Joan Didion.

In the nine years that followed, Cory shared Joan’s rarefied world, transformed not only by her blazing intellect but by her generous friendship and mentorship. Together they recited poetry in the mornings, dined with Supreme Court justices, attended art openings, smoked a single cigarette before bed.

But secretly, Cory was spiraling. He reeled from the death of a close friend. He spent his weekends at a federal prison, visiting his father as he served time for fraud. He struggled day after day to write the novel that would validate him as a real writer. And meanwhile, the forces of addiction and depression loomed large.

In hypnotic prose that pulses with life and longing, The Uptown Local explores the fault lines of class, family, loss, and creativity. It is a love letter to a cultural icon—and a moving testament to the relationships that sustain us in the eternal pursuit of a life worth living.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Biography, Writing, Biography Memoir, Audiobook, New York

224 pages, Hardcover

First published June 11, 2024

Reviews

[Lorna · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Uptown Local: Joy, Death, and Joan Didion: A Memoir by Cory Leadbeater was a true gift largely because of my love for the writing of Joan Didion. In this book, there were remarkable glimpses of the humanity and quirky but lovely personality of Joan Didion, a literary icon, as seen by Cory Ledbeater. He was her personal assistant for nine years answering an ad not disclosing the person’s identity. This is a beautiful copy of the hardbound book that I won as part of Goodread’s giveaways, now a cherished part of my library. Thank you!

Cory Leadbetter began working for Joan Didion in 2013 when he was in graduate school at Columbia University feeling wildly out of his depth as he tried to create a distance from his abusive father and his working-class New Jersey family. As Leadbetter spends his working hours at Didion’s apartment each day, and eventually moving in, there is an unfolding drama back in New Jersey. His father has been indicted for real estate fraud, and eventually sent to federal prison following an unsettling trial. It is also during this time that Leadbetter loses his best friend dying in his sleep from a congenital heart condition. All of these disparate fragments in Cory Leadbeater’s life as his writing of novels is a failure result in depression and ineffective ways of coping lead to suicidal thoughts, a main thread of the book. But in the background there is his relationship with Joan Didion as he dines at the finest restaurants with literary figures and Supreme Court justices learning about gourmet foods and the best of wines. But it is the personal relationship and friendship between Didion and Cory that thrums in the background giving the book structure.

There are are many extremes in the book as we witness the failed literary attempts by Leadbeater as compared to the vast and lauded body of work of Joan Didion; the extreme between his impoverished and scrappy childhood versus the gifted life he is living on Madison Avenue attending Broadway plays and dining at the finest restaurants with many famous dinner partners; and the extremes between their ages, Cory in his twenties and Didion her eighties, as they share their love of poetry and music and literature. Joan Didion’s love of California is a subtle but powerful part of the book. After Joan Didion’s death, Cory Leadbeater was finishing up with closing out her home as he remembered their mornings sharing an omelet and then starting their day, “her full of scrutiny, me full of belief.” And I will end with Cory’s impression of Joan Didion as follows:

“With the benefit of hindsight, I see now that the Joan revelation in the end was quite simple. I had for so long struggled to understand why everyone got her wrong. She was for some the genius waif leaning against her Stingray; for others she was the lonely widow, padding aimlessly around her apartment, bereft forever without her husband and daughter; for others still she could be the political journalist and assassin, the California Cassandra, or else the vulnerable woman perpetually in bed with a headache. It always struck me that the version of her a person advocated for said more about the person than it did about Joan, more about how they conceived of selfhood and misapprehended its vastnesses; the obvious truth I learned from Joan as time went on was that she was all of those things, all at once. For Joan, the notion of containing multitudes was an idea taken to its extreme. She did not try to reduce life down to a more manageable size in order to understand it; instead she endeavored to created a consciousness as large, varied, complex, and contradictory as life itself. She rejected orthodoxy so as to better see the real. This to me will always be her greatest achievement.”

[Ryan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Uninteresting, nothing-burger of a memoir, written in a flighty, long-winded style in dire need of tightening.

[Amy Kaufman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm so annoyed I read this. I kept telling myself it was short, that it would be over soon. It felt interminable. I selected it, of course, hoping for Didion insights. That was naive. By the end, I just found myself desperate to know what her reaction would have been to this memoir.

[Kerrysue · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I read books like this, I wish I were I writer instead of exclusively a reader. I could write a review that people would read and really understand how I felt as I was reading it. I identified with so much in this book that it makes my chest compress with emotion. I still haven’t found my Joan, my orange tulips. My shoelaces are untied a little more often than I care for.

This is a beautiful, poetic, powerful, personal memoir about real people. It was intrinsically enjoyable and sometimes painfully intrusive to read. Absolutely worth the pain.

[kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Uptown Local: Joy, Death, and Joan Didion.

While there is certainly much more death than there is joy in this memoir, there are glimmers if you are looking. This book is a heart-touching ode to the late, beloved Joan Didion as well as a fiercely honest look at Leadbeater's life. In just over 200 pages, Leadbeater somehow managed to make me laugh, cry, contemplate, reflect, and smile in awe and wonder. Suicide is discussed heavily within these pages which may be triggering to some but for others, I believe that it can bring about a better understanding of someone suffering.

[Dawn Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not even remotely what I expected [and I don't mean that in a good way]. I expected a lovely memoir about Joan Didion and the author's time with her and what life was like with her; yeah, no. Not even remotely.

I am not sure what this was supposed to be, but a coherent memoir it is not. This was a jumbled mess [that reads more like an angst-filled journal] that seemed even longer than the book really was [I cannot tell you how many times I looked at my watch, thinking I must be close to being done only to find I still had hours left]; there were so many moments where I wanted to quit [but then was afraid I would miss a really glorious story about Ms. Didion. Spoiler, I did not], scream in frustration and/or throw my book [sometimes all three at once], as there were few Didion insights [it often felt like a name-drop book; yes he worked for her and yes he DOES mention her, but not in any real meaningful way IMO] to make it more enjoyable. I cannot even imagine what she would have thought of this hot mess of a book.

As someone who adores Joan Didion and her writing, this was a huge disappointment.

Thank you to NetGalley, Cory Leadbeater, and Ecco for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[JANE DUBOSE · Rating 2 out of 5]

Parts of this memoir were stunning - beautifully written and startling in their elegance. But the pacing, storyline, chronology were distracting and could not keep me engaged. And perhaps the memoir focus was too weak after all - though Joan Didion is well known and Leadbeater had difficult times, they were not amazing enough to hold my interest.

[Karina T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5!
The author, Joan Didion’s late assistant, exposes her most tender, caring side that she kept private during her life. Cory told me who Joan Didion was to him, and I wanted to get to know her because of him.
I enjoyed this memoir. Cory and his experiences felt very honest to me, and relatable. I truly hope he writes more and I’d love to read him again.

[Melissa]

i liked it, and i especially liked it from chapter 34 on.

[Gabriella Burnham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Come for Joan Didion, stay for the searing meditations on life in America. I couldn't put this book down. In fact, I read 90% in one night, woke up still thinking about it, and finished before brushing my teeth. The Uptown Local is a masterful examination of the emotional and material conditions of our time.

[Star Gater · Rating 2 out of 5]

GoodReads Giveaway physical book win.

Genre: Memoir (?)

I was confused throughout the book. I still don't know what the author's purpose was or what he wanted to convey.

Two stars -- I feel like the genre memoir is misrepresented as well as sadly (and do hope I'm wrong) Joan Didion.

[Marika_reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Szczerze, to obawiałam się tej książki i do jej przeczytania przekonało mnie nazwisko Joan Didion na okładce. Podchodziłam więc do niej z dystansem, ale jakże miło się zaskoczyłam!
Historia awansu społecznego Cory’ego Leadbeatera, pochodzącego z klasy robotniczej, z rodziny z przemocowym ojcem, który to jednocześnie opłacił autorowi kosztowne studia na Uniwersytecie Columbia, pieniędzmi zdobytymi w sposób nielegalny na przekrętach, za co mężczyzna odsiedział długi wyrok w więzieniu.
W 2013 roku Cory przez zupełny przypadek zaczął pracować dla Joan jako jej osobisty asystent, na tyle bliski, że przez długi czas mieszkał z nią w jej ogromnym nowojorskim apartamencie, w dzielnicy bogaczy.
I żebyśmy się zrozumieli, to, że nazwisko Didion jest na okładce książki, nie oznacza, ze jest to książka o niej. Joan jest tutaj dużo, jej ogromną częścią tej historii, ale nie jest jej główną bohaterką. Jest punktem odniesienia do życia autora. Do jego marzeń i dążeniu do zostania pisarzem, do zmagań z uzależnieniem, przeżywania rodzinnej tragedii trafienia ojca na lata za kratki, walki z własnymi demonami depresji czy nagłej straty najbliższego przyjaciela.
Jednoczeście ta książka to wciąż gratka dla fanek i fanów pisarki, która daje się tutaj poznać od zupełnie innej strony. Nie tylko spotkania z największymi postaciami świata literatury czy sztuki. Ale spotkania z Corym przy śniadaniu, jej opiekuńczość, czulosc, ciepło, małe gesty okazujące wsparcie i miłość.

Książkę bardzo polecam, nie tylko czytelniczkom i czytelnikom Didion. Znajdziecie tu masę mądrości, dobrego pisania, a i wzruszycie się nie raz i zatrzymacie nad niejednym refleksyjnym fragmentem.
Pssst, są też polskie wątki i wspominanie o czytaniu wierszy Szymborskiej, Miłosza czy Herberta.

[Deborah Underwood · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a crashing bore this book was! I was so expecting to read a real memoir of Joan Didion and instead it is a long-winded mish mash of drivel. Very little of Joan and a whole lot of uninteresting flotsam about Cory Leadbeater, not even written in a compelling way. I had a hard time finishing this book and regret ever starting it.

[Lydia · Rating 1 out of 5]

So... this book was very disappointing. I can empathize with the writer, and I do believe he has undergone trauma that should be discussed - just maybe not in a book he wrote.

There is not much about Joan Didion, but the small phrases and snippets leave me wanting more. And I believe he wanted this to become his own story and not about Joan, but then maybe don't title your book about her.

Also, there's a thought I was having throughout, and then on page 193-4, he writes, "I spent night after night working through scenes like this, writing the same sentences over and over and placing them at different strategic points throughout a chapter to try to re-create the echoes of dogged memory (an editor, rejecting this book, would later call it "Repetition, but irritating")." I agree with the editor, and I'd phrase it instead as trying to write a couple of profound sentences, failing to write a cohesive novel, and so literally placing the same sentences word for word throughout the novel - sometimes only paragraphs away from each other - in the hopes of making something insightful... which inevitably fails and feels as though he is an elementary writer who did not so much as re-read his work, repeating sentences as though his struck on something profound, forgetting he just wrote the same two seconds ago.

And despite this affinity for repetition, he somehow fails to repeat the necessary parts, such as neglecting to introduce quotes with more than a last name that we are somehow supposed to remember? Like maybe they are common names in the literary field, and thus that is my shortcoming, but just a simple "poet" or "philosopher" or other apostrophe would've gone a long way and been quite simple to add.

I am happy that he seems to have settled in his life and gotten a book published, but I can see why he struggled to do so. I would not recommend reading this, and I fear Billy Silvers should've been relegated to an even smaller role, kept only in the personal drafts of the writer.

Thank you for enduring my tirade, and I genuinely mean no harm - I just believe this was maybe not the path for him and so I'm glad he has found buoys in other parts of his life.

P.S. Also, I agree with all of the one-star reviews written as of 2025/02/16, and I do believe I could write a whole other essay on this. I also greatly appreciate how Joan cared for him, but I do not see how someone of her caliber appreciated his writing.

[Noreen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this here and there over the past month, dipping in while reading other things. Much of it is wonderful, but much is also a bit indulgent, so I can’t wholeheartedly recommend it.

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t write reviews often but I’m baffled by the poor reviews on this book. Misleading? It’s Cory’s memoir… to expect the content to be about anything other than Cory’s life is insane and those readers only have themselves to blame for seeing Joan’s name and glossing over the rest. And I can’t relate to starting this memoir for Joan and not sticking around for Cory and his life story.

Anyways… I loved this. This memoir is such an authentic perspective that is both relatable but so unique to Cory I was hooked from the start. I experienced a wide range of emotions reading this - I feel like I laughed and cried with Cory throughout. Will be recommending this read !!

[Tammi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a bit tiresome due to the author repeating his stories. Not really any substantial stories regarding Joan.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now here's a fucking book. There are a thousand things this book could have been, and the one we got is frankly a miracle. As lucky as Joan was to find Cory and Cory to find Joan, we're lucky that the person closest to her has his own story to tell.

It is also to our great fortune that Cory can't stay inside himself, and this is the piece that makes the book so beautiful: he feels his pain as internal, his narrative voice and persona want to turn inward, the voice and his mind want to spend time on the page, with his characters and his pain and his own narrativization of it, to keep touching the hot poker, but the irresistible part of the book (and his life as described in it) is that he can't. His instincts drag the gaze back outward at every moment. His story is not his own — it is the story of his relationships to others. His chapters are full of people who are not Joan and not him and also not his family. He writes about everyone, Joan and himself too, with the loving clarity and honesty that only a loving and honest person could.

It is not a book about Joan, or Cory, or even depression and death, it is a book about living, which is to say you can fly through 200 pages of The Uptown Local and get *more* than most books pack into twice the heft. That's literature, baby.

[Lissa00 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cory Leadbeater was Joan Didion’s assistant/companion during the final years of her life. I was somewhat nervous going into the book. While I am not a Didion completist, I did not want to see her exploited by someone she employed and trusted. I had no need to be nervous. The Didion of this book is a gentle, grieving, wise and elderly presence. Cory suffered from personal and familial trauma and his position in Didion’s house was a comforting aspect of his often tumultuous life. This memoir also happens to fall during the years of COVID and the Trump presidency and it was interesting reading about those events from his perspective. I did feel that it was meandering and not always coherent, but overall this will (and should be) a popular memoir about a relationship with an iconic author. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book. But the writing style was largely pretentious (for example - talking about a character as though they are a real person- which could be insightful in some books but in this case, sounded overwrought). Don't know if this book would have even been published without Joan Didion as a subject, though she is not discussed at length. There were paragraphs written with insight and clarity. Just as a whole, it comes off as writing that is reaching for something just out of grasp.

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I assume that addicts must not read one another's memoirs, which are all stultifyingly the same. If they did, they might have a care for the reader, who, after all, already knows this story from the addicts in their own lives. The use of Joan Didion's name in the subtitle only underlines the marginality of her place in this narcissistic narrative.

[Wallis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Each individual segment was great; some were absolutely beautiful. But the transitions left the whole book feeling incoherent, choppy, and hard to follow.

[Margaret Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Firmly meh — very “writerly” but nothing to write home about

[smak_slow · Rating 3 out of 5]

„Na marginesie Manhattanu” to poruszająca, intymna i pełna niuansów opowieść o spotkaniu dwóch światów – błyskotliwej, intelektualnej elity Nowego Jorku oraz trudnej, pełnej bolesnych doświadczeń przeszłości młodego pisarza z Jersey. Cory Leadbeater, autor i jednocześnie bohater wspomnienia, z niezwykłą wrażliwością opowiada o dziewięciu latach spędzonych u boku Joan Didion – literackiej legendy, mentorki, przyjaciółki.

Książka zaskakuje podwójną narracją: z jednej strony mamy obraz pełen blasku – poetyckie poranki z Didion, kolacje wśród nowojorskiej inteligencji, chwile wielkiej kultury i subtelnych rozmów. Z drugiej – cieniem kładzie się osobista historia Cory’ego: uzależnienia, depresja, traumy wyniesione z dzieciństwa i dramatyczne relacje rodzinne. Te dwa światy nieustannie się przenikają, tworząc opowieść o tożsamości, bólu i próbie ocalenia siebie przez twórczość.

Nie sposób nie dostrzec, jak wielki wpływ miała Didion na Leadbeatera – jej obecność stanowi oś opowieści, ale nie przyćmiewa jej autora. Wręcz przeciwnie, jej postać staje się lustrem, w którym Cory odbija własne pytania o sens, wartość, przynależność.”Na marginesie Manhattanu” to nie tylko wspomnienie wielkiej postaci literatury, lecz także zapis walki o siebie, marzenia i prawo do własnego głosu.

Wspomnienie Leadbeatera to nie tylko literacki hołd dla Joan Didion, ale przede wszystkim opowieść o relacjach – tych, które ratują, inspirują, a czasem po prostu dają siłę, by przeżyć kolejny dzień.

[Katy Wheatley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cory Leadbeater was championed by the poet, James Fenton, when he was in university. From Fenton, he was connected to the writer, Joan Didion, who needed a companion in her last years and Leadbeater got the job. This is not a tell all expose of the later years of Joan Didion and the writer has to be respected for that. The interest in Didion is so strong that it would have been a much easier book to sell to publishers than the one he ended up writing, which is largely about him.

Brought up in a dysfunctional, toxic family situation in New Jersey, surrounded by people who believed that the best way to evade your problems was to drink or drug them away, when Leadbeater is shoved into the rarefied air of the Upper East Side and the heady world of literature and the arts, he becomes a fractured person. Leaving New Jersey to live with Joan he soon realises that he brings New Jersey with him wherever he goes. A life fraught with tension ensues with Leadbeater toggling between going towards what he wants but unable to leave behind where he came from. Addictions rear their heads and in a life dogged by loss, he struggles to keep his head above water.

This is, at times, a difficult read. Leadbeater pulls no punches in describing his struggles and his seemingly endless capacity for self sabotage, but it is also strangely beautiful in its flaws and deep down, wildly hopeful.

[I saved the book today · Rating 4 out of 5]

„Ostatecznie opowiedziałem mu też o mojej pracy u Joan, o tym, skąd pochodzę, o moim ojcu, który w tej samej chwili, gdy jadłem endywię i buraki na 13 ulicy, siedział w więzieniu i żywił się czekoladowymi batonikami z kantyny.
Zaczął się śmiać. Dużo czasu zajęło mu, żeby się uspokoić.
– Czy wiesz, jak bardzo jest to nieprawdopodobne – powiedział w końcu. – Albo raczej mało prawdopodobne, powinienem powiedzieć.
Powiedziałem, że wiem”.

Cory Leadbeater pełnił rolę osobistego asystenta Joan Didion przez 9 lat, aż do śmierci pisarki w 2021 roku. Przez ten czas próbował, niczym Maria Tallchief – pierwsza primabalerina Ameryki, tańczyć do dwóch rytmów jednocześnie. Z jednej strony szarpały go demony z przeszłości – niełatwe dzieciństwo i trudna młodość w toksycznej rodzinie, a z drugiej strony dane mu było znaleźć się w świecie Wielkiej Literatury u boku jednej z największych ikon literackich Ameryki. „Na marginesie Manhattanu. Radość, śmierć i Joan Didion – wspomnienie” to opowieść o zagubionym chłopaku, rozdartym między poranioną rodziną, chorą matką i ojcem odbywającym karę w więzieniu w Lewisburg w Pensylwanii, a wyrafinowanym światem, o którym jako dziecko mógł tylko czytać i marzyć. Targały nim uzależnienia, walczył z depresją. Czuł, że nie należy do tego świata, że to wszystko jest tylko na chwilę i wkrótce zniknie.
To historia o wielkich kontrastach, sięganiu dna i spełnianiu marzeń o lepszym życiu. Myślę, że spodoba się nie tylko fanom Didion. Ja czytałam z dużym zainteresowaniem i nabrałam wielkiej ochoty na wspominane „Graj jak się da”, którego jeszcze nie miałam okazji przeczytać.

[Maddie Schumacher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a beautiful memoir. Unfortunately, it is about 20% Didion assistant and 80% his life, his pain, his growth etc… It’s unbelievably well written still. Especially on the topic of death.. I do worry that the Didion assistant plot line was used as clickbait.. or maybe what bothered me more was starting at a place of grief with Joan. Ofc she died during his time with her, but I almost felt as if I couldn’t grasp her presence in real time because of how constant her death, her age, was mentioned in this book.

No doubt a talented voice. I just wonder how do you express love beyond your own anticipatory grief.. How do you keep Didion on the page and not lose yourself? How do you keep your narrative centered and not lose Joan (i feel this is more of what happened..)

[Jane Wiewora · Rating 3 out of 5]

3+. I listened to the audiobook.

[Ocean Boudreau · Rating 4 out of 5]

A man unable to make room for other things in the centre of his life.

"I will no longer be the only one affected by this clock."

[Johnny Wimmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an emotionally moving story from Cory Leadbetter about his chaotic life, and that of his friend Joan Didion. Cory accepted a career of being Joan Didions protege, and taking care of her , an esteemed author in her old age. This book is a riveting testimony about their lives together, and the special friendship that develops between them. Full of love and raw emotion, this book is recommended to people of all ages.