Remembering Joan Didion: ‘Her ability to operate outside of herself was unparalleled’

The American author was not only brilliant but also generous and kind to younger writers, writes Emma BrockesThere is that famous photo of Joan Didion, taken in Malibu in 1976, in which she leans on a deck overlooking the beach, cigarette in hand, scotch glass at her elbow, and regards her family – John Dunne, her husband, and their then 10-year-old daughter, Quintana – through lowered, side-long eyes. Like other iconic photos of Didion from the period, she is at one remove from the group, off to the side and in this case, looking not at the camera but at her family as they look at the camera. It’s the pose Didion perfected, in life as in art, and when news of her death at the age of 87 broke on Thursday, it was a shock to see another frame from that sequence surface online. In it, Didion, eyes fixed forward, smiles broadly at the camera in the conventional style – a rare glimpse behind the persona.The paradox of Didion was not unusual among writers, whose confidence is often born of a million anxieties. But her ability to operate outside herself – to measure the gap between inside and out and slyly mock any effort to conceal it – was unparalleled. She was, famously and by her own account, diffident, brittle, runtish, prone to migraines, afraid of the telephone, and as she wrote in the preface to her 1968 collection Slouching Towards Bethlehem, “bad at interviewing people”, apparent deficits that, in Didion’s hands, were of course precisely what permitted her entry to... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2021-12-24 18:44:54 UTC ]
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Amazon updates Kindle Fire HDX operating system

With both models of the new Kindle Fire HDX tablets now out in the wild, Amazon can concentrate on tweaking the system to add features and fix bugs. The device, while considered to be a competitor to the Nexus 7, is really more about media, specifically that from the retail giant's ecosystem.... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2013-11-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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AudioGO suspends business operations

Audiobook publisher AudioGO has put its business operations on hold due to "recently... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-10-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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FTC returns money from online operation promising free gas

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has begun to send more than 58,000 refund checks to consumers who lost money to Green Millionaire, a company that promised a free book explaining how to power cars and homes at no cost, but then billed customers for an online magazine they never ordered. The... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2013-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hearst to Move Country Living's Edit Operations to Alabama

Hearst Magazine is moving Country Living's editorial operations to Birmingham, Ala., from its current location in New York, the company said Monday. Current edit staffers, who learned of the news Monday afternoon, will not make the move.Country Living's full-time edit staff in New York is "a... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2013-10-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Dohle tells Frankfurt of Amazon 'co-operation'

Penguin Random House c.e.o. Markus Dohle has told the Frankfurt Book Fair that the relationship... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-10-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Barnsley urges publishers to remember their 'true strength'

The outgoing c.e.o. of HarperCollins Victoria Barnsley has warned publishers against trying to... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-07-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pearson and HarperCollins to close New Zealand operations

Pearson is to close its New Zealand educational business at the end of August, while... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-06-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bloomberg Revs Up Video News Operations, Publishing 200 Clips Daily

With a global television network operation in place, Bloomberg News is using video clips from its  shows as well as Web-only videos to produce some 200 clips per day,  signaling a new "digital first" approach, says Chris Berend ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-04-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kathy Thomson named chief operating officer of Tribune publishing

Tribune Co. has promoted Kathy Thomson, president and chief operating officer of the Los Angeles Times, to the newly created position of chief operating officer of Tribune’s publishing division. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-04-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Whitney Houston's mother remembers her daughter in new memoir

Cissy Houston, Whitney Houston's mother, has chosen the first anniversary of her death to publish a memoir, "Remembering Whitney". By the time Whitney Houston died in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton Hotel last February, tracking her deterioration had become a blood sport for the gossip rags. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-01-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Christopher Davis Remembered

Christopher Davis died on December 2nd, at home in his sleep. Though he wasn't Dorling, or Kindersley, Christopher was central to everything DK was, from its inception until its final integration into Penguin. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-12-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pearson sees operating profit decline

Pearson has announced a decline in operating profit for the first five months of the year, with a... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fairfax to Cut 1,900 Jobs in Restructuring of Media Operations

The struggling conglomerate, which has a 30 percent market share in Australia, publishes The Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian Financial Review and The Age in Melbourne. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2012-06-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hearst appoints Swan as head of ad operations

Hearst Magazines UK has appointed Richard Swan to be its head of advertising operations for its digital business. Continue reading at Media Week

[ Media Week | 2012-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Corporate Ladder: Devin C. Johnson, Studio One Networks' chief operating officer

Devin C. Johnson, 38, joined Studio One Networks as chief operating officer. In this role, he will be responsible for strategic and operational leadership for the network's partnerships with online publishers and brand marketers. He will oversee the management of the company's finances,... Continue reading at Crains New York

[ Crains New York | 2012-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Playboy Editorial Operations Relocate to Los Angeles

Playboy magazine will relocate its editorial, art and photo departments from Chicago to Los Angeles in April 2012, ending an almost 60-year occupancy in its Midwest headquarters. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-12-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sainsbury's signs exclusive deal to sell Joan Collins book

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 15/08/2011 - 15:45 Sainsbury’s has signed an exclusive deal with independent publisher Constable & Robinson to sell Joan Collins’ new book. Publishing director at C&R Andreas Campomar said the company hoped to reach a wider audience for... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BREAKING: Schofield Media Shutters U.S. Operations

B-to-B publisher Schofield Media is shutting down its U.S. operations after "unexpectedly" losing its bank financing. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-07-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book Depository to "operate independently" of Amazon

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 04/07/2011 - 16:00 The Book Depository has said it will continue to operate independently of Amazon, as the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said it was "too early" to say if today's takeover of the online bookseller would trigger an investigation.... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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