Play Book Tag discussion

Slouching Towards Bethlehem: Essays by Joan Didion - 4* - My Review

Series of twenty essays that reflect the zeitgeist of the 1960s in (mostly) California. It is about dreams and ideals and changes. These essays were published in magazines and were brought together into this collection by the author. It speaks to the many difficulties in adapting to the major changes taking place in America at the time. Topics include drugs, hippies, teen runaways, and the Vietnam War, as well as famous people of the time such as Joan Baez, John Wayne, and Howard Hughes. Didion has a unique voice. She evokes a time and place, and her writing is eloquent. It feels like she is assembling a collage of scenes she has witnessed. She captures the fragmentation of social mores as they morph from the rigidity of the past to a rather chaotic future. Some are more appealing to me than others but together they provide a view of the widespread social changes of the 1960s.