A quick update from "the road"
We tell ourselves stories of book tours
Hello! Some day I will not only be sending you updates about the book, but today is not that day.
Mainly because yesterday was the day that We Tell Ourselves Stories: Joan Didion and the American Dream Machine was released! We had a lovely launch event in Brooklyn at Barnes & Noble. The night before I was in Boston at Harvard Bookstore; the previous weekend I introduced two sold-out showings of a new restoration of Play It As It Lays at Film Forum here in New York; and the week before that I was at Skylark Books in Columbia, Missouri with a great group.
Being on a book tour is very weird, especially if you’re the person who’s accustomed to doing the interviewing, not being interviewed. I very purposely chose the smartest people I know to be my conversation partners at all of these events, but that means I’m actually having to think! Which I love!
But there are other good things that come with book events, such as — for instance — having to catch a 6am train back to New York in Boston, but then being able to see the sun rise over the Rhode Island coastline from the train window:
Or collecting snaps and pics and memories all over the place:
More to come soon, from D.C. and L.A. and Summerland and Berkeley and San Francisco, promise.
This is the part with all the links
Launch day means reviews — always a fraught proposition, for someone whose career largely consists of reviewing — but I was thrilled with the results. Here’s the New York Times Book Review piece, which felt like it really understood the project and is an absolute thrill to see. Also had kind reviews in the Washington Post and the Boston Globe and Kirkus and Publishers Weekly and Booklist (which doesn’t seem to be on the web).
A few other fun media things:
Honored to have an excerpt from the book published in the New York Times (this is not, despite what you might think, a foregone conclusion, so I am extra happy about it and grateful to Errol Morris for releasing a perfectly timed documentary about the Manson murders, which I also reviewed).
I wrote a little piece (with the blessing of my workplace) for Airmail about the most interesting I learned while writing this book — hint, it’s about movie reviews.
I talked to the Los Angeles Times about this book a bunch — it is, understandably, directly in their wheelhouse! So here is a beautiful, astute feature on the book (and me), and a piece on Didion’s Los Angeles.
(Missed this in the email version of this post, sorry!) A really fantastic interview with me in Variety about the book!
A wide-ranging interview in Cambridge Day.
An article in the San Francisco Examiner / Nob Hill Gazette.
Was delighted to see this great piece in Vogue — Didion’s youthful stomping grounds! — about Didion and Dunne’s screenwriting.
A few podcasts: Linoleum Knife, Dedicated with Doug Brunt, Grey Matter with Michael Krasny, Shifting Culture, The Substance.
And just a reminder about future tour dates! There are a couple of new ones since my last update, so I’ve bolded them (two have virtual options, even). A couple more are on the way as well.
March 13, The Strand, Manhattan, NY (with Rachel Syme)*
March 14, Politics & Prose, Washington, DC (with Dan Kois)
March 15, Book Soup, Los Angeles, CA (with Justin Chang)
March 16, Godmothers Bookstore, Summerland, CA (with Amy Nicholson)*
March 17, Mrs. Dalloway's Books, Berkeley, CA (with Lee Kravetz)
March 18, Commonwealth Club, San Francisco, CA (with Kevin Smokler)*
March 20, NYU Creative Writing Lillian Vernon House, NY
March 22, Museum of the Moving Image, Queens, NY (following A Star Is Born with Lauren Sandler)*
March 26, New York Public Library (main branch), Manhattan, NY and livestream!
March 28, Barnes & Noble Colonie Center, Albany, NY (with Linda Hall)
March 29, Panel discussion with Carrie Courogen (Miss May Does Not Exist) at Albany Film Festival
March 30, The Orpheum, Saugerties, NY*
April 27, LA Times Festival of Books (with Lili Anolik, Katherine Bucknell and Patt Morrison), Los Angeles, CA*
May 13, The American Library in Paris, France and livestream!
* Ticket purchase required; see the event for details. (In some cases the tickets aren't available yet, but they will be.)
Hope to see you somewhere!
I was thrilled to receive my copy! Congrats! 🍾