Joan Didion. First American edition, first printing. Dust Jacket: Near Fine. An unclipped jacket with original price $8.95 on inside flap, in a mylar protective wrapper. Jacket design by Robert Anthony. Hardcover: Near Fine. New York: Simon and Shuster, 1979. No writing or markings in this well preserved edition, 223 pp. Red cloth, black spine with silver lettering on the spine. There is some early signs of foxing on the top area of the book, otherwise, in nice shape. With the full number line from 1-10 on copyright page.
This was Didion's fifth novel. Like her previous book Slouching Towards Bethlehem, The White Album is a collection of works previously published in magazines such as Life and Esquire. The subjects of the essays range widely and represent a mixture of memoir, criticism, and journalism, focusing on the history and politics of California in the late 1960's and early 70's. With the publication of The White Album, Didion had established herself as a prominent writer on Californian culture. As the New York Times has said, "California belongs to Joan Didion."
The book examines key events, figures, and trends of the era-including Charles Manson, the Black Panthers, and the shopping mall-through the lens of her own spiritual confusion, Joan Didion helped to define mass culture as we now understand it. Written with a commanding sureness of tone and linguistic precision, The White Album is a central text of American reportage and a classic of American autobiography.
The White Album was chosen as one of the 10 most important essays since 1950 by Publishers Weekly.
