Contents
''The White Album'' is organized into five sections. The first section contains only the title essay, while the other four sections are identified by a major topic or theme, such as "California Republic" or "Women."I. The White Album
*"The White Album" (1968–78)"The White Album" is an autobiographical literary essay detailing loosely related events in the author's life in the 1960s, primarily in Los Angeles, California. In the course of describing her ongoing psychological difficulties, Didion discussesBlack Panther Party The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Califo ...meetings, drug-related experiences, aDoors A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress (entry) into and egress (exit) from an enclosure. The created opening in the wall is a ''doorway'' or ''portal''. A door's essential and primary purpose is to provide security b ...recording session, various other interactions with LA musicians and cultural figures and several prison meetings withLinda Kasabian Linda Darlene Kasabian (born Drouin; June 21, 1949) is a former member of the Manson Family. Even though she was present at both the Tate and LaBianca murders, because she was the key witness in District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi's prosecuti ..., a former follower ofCharles Manson Charles Milles Manson (; November 12, 1934November 19, 2017) was an American criminal and musician who led the Manson Family, a cult based in California, in the late 1960s. Some of the members committed a series of nine murders at four loca ...who was testifying against the group for the grislySharon Tate Sharon Marie Tate Polanski (January 24, 1943 – August 9, 1969) was an American actress and model. During the 1960s, she played small television roles before appearing in films and was regularly featured in fashion magazines as a model and cover ...murders. Tate had been an acquaintance of Didion's. The murder trial cast a cloud of fear over Hollywood that seemed to propel many of Didion's insights. The impression conveyed is one of a city and nation pervaded by paranoia and detachment.
Martin Amis Martin Louis Amis (born 25 August 1949) is a British novelist, essayist, memoirist, and screenwriter. He is best known for his novels ''Money'' (1984) and ''London Fields'' (1989). He received the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his memoir '' ...wrote critically of the book:
idionstands revealed, in ''The White Album,'' as a human being who has managed to gouge another book out of herself, rather than as a writer who gets her living done on the side, or between the lines. The result is a volatile, occasionally brilliant, distinctly female contribution to the newNew Journalism New Journalism is a style of news writing and journalism, developed in the 1960s and 1970s, that uses literary techniques unconventional at the time. It is characterized by a subjective perspective, a literary style reminiscent of long-form non ..., diffident and imperious by turns, intimate yet categorical, self-effacingly listless and at the same time often subtly self-serving. She can still find her own perfect pitch for long stretches, and she has an almost embarrassingly sharp ear and unblinking eye for the Californian inanity. Seemingly obedient, though, to the verdicts of her psychiatric report, Miss Didion writes about everything with the same doom-conscious yet faintly abstract intensity of interest, whether remarking on the dress sense of one of Manson’s henchwomen, or indulging her curious obsession with Californian waterworks in these pieces, Miss Didion’s writing does not "reflect" her moods so much as dramatise them. "How she feels" has become, for the time being, how it is.
II. California Republic
*"In this essay Didion recalls*"Holy Water" (1977) *"Many Mansions" (1977) *"The Getty" (1977) *"Bureaucrats" (1976) *"Good Citizens" (1968–70) *"Notes Toward a Dreampolitik" (1968–70)James Pike James Albert Pike (February 14, 1913–) was an American Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal bishop, accused heretic, iconoclast, prolific writer, and one of the first mainline, charismatic religious figures to appear regularly on televi ..., the charismatic and controversial fifth Episcopalian Bishop of California at once eulogizing and raising questions about his legacy, unpacking the ways in which the remarkably diversity of accomplishments and passions are riddled with contradictions in a manner that makes his character, in some way, a microcosm for the psychology of the state where he was made bishop. A thinly veiled fictionalized version of this essay is criticized inPhilip K. Dick Philip Kindred Dick (December 16, 1928March 2, 1982), often referred to by his initials PKD, was an American science fiction writer. He wrote 44 novels and about 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his l ...'s fictionalized memoir/biography of James Pike, ''The Transmigration of Timothy Archer ''The Transmigration of Timothy Archer'' is a 1982 novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. As his final work, the book was published shortly after his death in March 1982, although it was written the previous year. The novel draws on autobio ...'' which was published posthumously as the third volume in Dick'sVALIS Trilogy The ''VALIS trilogy'' is a set of science fiction/philosophical novels by author Philip K. Dick which include ''VALIS'' (1978), ''The Divine Invasion'' (1980), and ''The Transmigration of Timothy Archer'' (1982). Dick's first novel about the VALI .... In TOTA, Didion and The White Album, respectively, are given the aliases "Jane Marione" and "The Green Cover."
III. Women
*"The Women's Movement" (1972) *"IV. Sojourns
*"In the Islands" (1969–1977) *"In Hollywood" (1973) *"In Bed" (1968) *"On the Road" (1977) *"On the Mall" (1975) *"In Bogotá" (1974) *"At the Dam" (1970)V. On the Morning After the Sixties
*"On the Morning After the Sixties" (1970) *"Quiet Days in Malibu" (1976–1978)External links
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:White Album, The 1979 non-fiction books American essay collections Essay collections by Joan Didion Books about California