While I love Didion's writing, at times I felt like I was missing so much context to fully enjoy this collection. As with all collected works, some really worked for me while others didn't. I will say I'm so happy that I listened to this new audiobook, since I LOVED Maya Hawke's narration. I'm curious to read more Didion and see if Hawke reads any other work in the future.

4.5 articulate stars

🎧 Audiobook 🎧 is exceptionally narrated.

I am unsure why this audiobook has been rerecorded (given that the original was voiced by Dianne Keaton!!), I am hoping that this young actor’s popularity will bring it back into the spotlight of today’s youth.

Didion has been hailed as “an articulate witness to the most stubborn and intractable truths of our times” (The New York Times Book Review). Though, in “Slouching Towards Bethlahem”, she holds up a window into several key movements and lifestyles of America in the 1960’s, she also holds a mirror up to our own fraught times in the 2020’s.

Her unique voice, and dedication to observing the details and intersecting interests in the world around her, bring us wholly into scenes we might otherwise have never truly understood. And it seems truly imperative that we understand the past, so as not to repeat it.

I am of Gen X - I am a child of those described in this book. I am a latchkey kid, brought up bohemian, wild and free. I have my own stories of visiting Haight & Ashbury, of seeing the Grateful Dead, and of paving my way in a world born of the one described here. But for those younger than me, there is so much more than nostalgia to be gleaned in this book. So much tension in the air and in politics, again. So, I do hope that the rereading of this seminal text, brings insight to those leading the charge into this newest age.

Huge gratitude to Netgalley, and the publisher Macmillan Audio, for an Audio-ARC of this book, in exchange for my honest review.

This is one of those books I'd always heard about but never read. It's being re-released so I decided to give it a try and I'm very glad to have read it. This is a collection of essays written by Joan Didion in the 1960s. Her writing is beautiful, but I also found this book fascinating as a time capsule. Her topics range from true crime to the pretension of intellectual "think tanks" to how it feels to leave home for the big city. Didion is insightful and funny and surprising. The title essay is a long one, based on time Joan spent among the hippies in S.F. (One of them found out she was 32. After an akward pause, he said, "It's ok - there are old hippies too.") Through the entire essay you get the feeling Didion is pretty neutral to positive on these people. Then in the last few paragraphs she absolutely slams them by describing the neglect and outright abuse their children suffer because of their lifestyle. I recommend this one.

There is something so stunning about this. These are essays detailing people and places I barely know or have never heard of, a piece of 1960s Americana trapped in amber. It felt like listening in on conversations in a crowded hotel bar. I understood almost nothing; I loved it deeply.

Admittedly, I picked this up 1) because Maya Hawke reads the audiobook, and I find her voice hypnotic, and 2) because I knew as a literary american woman it was about time I finally read some Didion.

Ugh! This was a treat. I hope Maya Hawke narrates more, she did an exceptional job.

Joan Didion's first nonfiction book, published 2 years before I was born, is tale after tale of her life in the 1960's in California. I've always felt like I was born too late for my hippy soul and I loved each and every story.
Thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the review copy!

Reading essay collections written nearly 60 years ago can be a mixed bag. No matter how well written, they are very rarely relevant. Slouching Towards Bethlehem looms large in the cultural conversation though so when I received the opportunity to listen to an updated version of it, I thought it might well be time to try it.

First and foremost, the audio production is excellent. I don't know much about Maya Hawke except she's the daughter of two very famous actors, which I'm embarrassed to admit made me skeptical of her talent. I was wrong however. I was truly blown away by her narration. The emphasis, the pacing, all of it was perfect.

Didion's prose is gorgeous, lush, descriptive. There were some things that felt less than relevant to today's times but overall the writing was so beautiful, I wasn't as worried about that.

Well worth listening to the updated audio if you haven't read this collection yet. It's an engaging and thought-provoking read.

Okay, I get the hype about Joan Didion now, and it is well-deserved. 👏 Her prose is superb and insightful. I feel like she lived such an exciting life. As a reporter, she achieves the perfect balance of being present in each moment with her interviewees while still maintaining the role of a silent, outside observer. She writes her non-fiction essays like novels with descriptive language and robust characters. The great writing—along with great narration by Maya Hawke in my audiobook copy—made this a very easy and engaging listen. 😊

Each chapter in this book is a separate account of some facet of life in the 1960s. The book is divided into 3 sections. (I will describe each section in very broad terms.) The first section describes general life in and around 1960s California. The second section contains more introspective essays on Didion's personal life and thoughts in her early twenties. The third section details current life in specific places across the United States. As with most anthologies, some essays are better than others. I found that some of the topics and references were a bit dated, but I was pleasantly surprised with how many of Didion's themes, thoughts, and conclusions from the 1960s and '70s are still relevant in 2024. She was progressive for her time!

I am now even more interested and excited to read Didion's other works, especially The Year of Magical Thinking, which I've heard is really good. I am also interested in listening to other audiobooks narrated by Maya Hawke. I think she'd do well with fiction, too! [Also, this might be just me because I choose to listen to audiobooks in bed and often fall asleep regardless (oops)—but I felt that Hawke's voice was especially soothing and seemed to put me to sleep faster than usual. 😅 Maybe her next order of narration business should be a sleep album, honestly!]

I haven’t read anything by Joan Didion before, but I will definitely look into more of her work. Her writing is phenomenal! While I didn’t enjoy every essay in this compilation, there were several where I had to pause my audiobook for a minute or two so I could process and reflect on what I had just read.

Maya Hawke narrates and I found her voice soothing and perfect for the writing style.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced audiobook copy.

Wow! Slouching Towards Bethlehem is of course a classic, but Maya Hawke's narration adds an additional of loveliness. I strongly recommend this audiobook to all readers.

It is remarkable how well Didion's essays have aged. Although she's been stylistically imbibed by so many of today's writers some of the work can feel overly familiar, there are still many passages that sing with brilliance. The titular essay here is almost certainly the most affecting, teeming with powerful images and paradoxically subtle yet not-so-subtle commentary, including the student of "High Kindergarten," the poor Hippie child whose been reared on psychedelics. Despite the many facsimiles today, our era would be eminently improved by an authentic Didion.

this is my first didion and knowing what i know about her oeuvre, i don't think it will be my favorite. this essay collection is a snapshot of the landscape of california in the 1960's, when the picturesque vision of the good life purported by glossy, smiling stories of nuclear families of the 1950's is starting to show decay. murder, drugs, rape, crime, police either committing crimes or protecting fellow officers who do them.

i think this one will be a banger for some, though for me i'm not particularly interested in the era or time period. however, there were still some great bangers in here, "on keeping a notebook" has been called out specifically in other reviews as stand-out and i think, should you consume one essay from this book, it'd be that one.

i really adored maya hawke as a narrator. celebrity-narrated audiobooks can be hit or miss for me personally, but i think maya's version is absolutely worth the listen.

This audiobook is fantastic—Maya Hawke’s narration truly brings it to life. In her interviews, Hawke has mentioned that in narrating this, she wants younger readers to connect with this collection, and I think this audiobook is a perfect way to make that happen. I’m so grateful I got to a chance to review this advance copy!

I’ve been a Joan Didion fan since I first read On Keeping a Notebook years ago (back then, I’d only read that essay, not the whole collection). Now, after living in Southern California, I’ve either visited many of the places Didion describes, or know of the lore. I could hardly believe the original book was written nearly 80 years ago—it feels as fresh and relevant today as ever.

I really try to get on board with joan didion but I have such a hard time relating to her. I have to remind myself that these stories were a product of the time in which they were written but there were phrases and content that just seemed weird and didn't sit right with me.

Maya Hawke is THE perfect person to read Joan Didion. Her dry, near-raspy voice captures the mood of Slouching Toward Bethlehem exactly how it needs. I'd read this collection before, but not listened to it, and I think listening added a lot more depth. Essays tend to read like magazine articles, which makes it harder for me to get through, just because it does pack a lot of info into a long short-form medium. But listening to this was like listening to someone tell you a bunch of themed stories, and it felt more interesting. Highly recommend listening to this version!

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the ALC!

My second Netgalley release, Slouching Towards Bethlehem has finally been made into an official audiobook read by Maya Hawke. She does an excellent job – I like to listen sped up and I could comprehend her even at 3X speed.

I don’t know much about Joan Didion, but the essays are an interesting slice of life from the 60s, illustrating a time that may or may not have existed. She’s clearly a child of privilege – but her occasional strange nostalgic views of her past are rescued from being too sickeningly rosy to read by her crushing those thoughts back down and returning right back to pessimism and darkness. My sister says I have a heart of stone and perhaps she’s right because occasionally I enjoy reading something so endlessly bleak and frosty. I love the art of short writing – concision combined with clarity is beauty in my view. And Didion excels at being terse. This is definitely a worthy read for anyone interested in the art of the essay.

I've heard great things about this book, so it was so fun getting to listen to it. Maya Hawke does a great job and kept me engaged the whole time.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is my first time reading Joan Didion's work and I can see why there has been so much praise over her prose. Slouching Towards Bethlehem is Didion's debut collection of essays full of observations and musings about the cultural landscape of the 1960s Americana. There's no denying that she has a way of words, how she paints portraits of certain people in the first part of the collection to how she memorializes New York after moving to Los Angeles in "Goodbye to All That." With Maya Hawke's narration, she brought a timeless classic that's more richer through her performance.

My favorite essays: "Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream," "Notes from a Native Daughter," Los Angeles Notebook," and "Goodbye to All That"

Honorable mentions: "Marrying Absurd" and "I Can't Get that Monster Out of My Mind"

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ALC!

I have been wanting to read more Joan Didion and when I saw a new audio version of this book was coming out, I was so excited! I’m a big fan of Maya Hawke and she did a wonderful job narrating.

There isn’t much I can say about Joan’s writing that hasn’t been said before. Her writing is timeless and profound, still relevant to this day. In Slouching Towards Bethlehem it feels like she is letting us in on a secret world and showing us what is hiding.

I’ve heard a lot about Didion’s writing so I was looking forward to reading my second book by her. Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion was originally published in 1968 and I listened to the new audiobook narrated by Maya Hawke. The narrator was great and this collection was interesting enough. It was interesting to read about John Wayne, Joan Baez, Haight-Ashbury, California and the 60s.

This was actually my first from Joan Didion, and I can see why she's a legend. I wasn't sure what to expect but was so pleasantly surprised by her writing and insights alike. It's so cool knowing that these were previously published elsewhere, then collected for us to read in one go so many years later. After finishing this audiobook, I'm excited to read more from Didion.

Specific to the audiobook, I love Maya Hawke's narration. It fit this collection perfectly, though at times I felt myself starting to zone out. That could just be a "me" problem though, her voice is just so soothing! lol.

{Thank you bunches to NetGalley, Joan Didion, Maya Hawke, Picador and Macmillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for my honest review!}

This has long been on my TBR but I got the opportunity to listen to a newly recorded audiobook of it and decided to give it a go finally. There were aspects of this book that I really enjoyed. The reporting on people outside of her own experiences (John Wayne, Joan Baez) were the parts of this book that I found to be the most interesting. Her pieces that were more focused on her own experiences and life felt a little self-indulgent to me, but it's possible that I just can't relate to her lifestyle. Her writing style, however, I enjoyed immensely. And I also very much enjoyed Maya Hawke as the narrator.

Thanks NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.