Reviews - South and West: From a Notebook

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736 reviews for:

South and West: From a Notebook

This was both my first Joan Didion novel and first memoir novel. I thoroughly enjoyed the adventure Joan took me on during her road trip around the South. I loved all the details she wrote and the random conversations that were included. From elevator conversations to beauty shop discussions, this book offered a variety of different people who each have interesting, and sometimes comical, characteristics. South and West was a joy to read and made me feel like I was experiencing life in 1970 for the very first time!

allieta's review against another edition

4.0

I could leave the California section but loved the southern section. “A time warp: the civil war was yesterday but 1960 was spoken of as if it were three hundred years ago.”

bcodone's review against another edition

3.0

new favorite way to describe home is “I am easy here in a way I am not easy in other places”

book was cool to see the south during this time period but didn’t move me in any way, but I would again and again read joan talk about paint drying so

v_mango's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging informative reflective fast-paced

thopp84's review against another edition

4.0

I think one of the bigger regrets I have so far in life is not discovering Joan didion until my 30s. Her prose is just so gorgeous and her writing is just comforting. Here, she writes about a trip she took to the South and it felt so authentic that I felt like I was really there. I could actually smell the food and hear the accents. And she paints such a vivid portrait of the people she meets and the ways they interact with her.
It’s a rare writer who can do this kind of reporting and really immerse you in their subject. Didion does and that’s why she’s a national treasure and an author that I have grown so fond of. I can’t wait to read more of her works. I’ve been loving the ones I’ve read so far.