Before I'd written movies, I never could do big set-piece scenes with a lot of different speakers - when you've got twelve people around a dinner table talking at cross purposes. I had always been impressed by other people's ability to do that. Joan Didion abilitybigcross share on social
We live entirely, especially if we are writers, by the imposition of a narrative line upon disparate images, by the 'ideas' with which we have learned to freeze the shifting phantasmagoria which is our actual experience. Joan Didion actualdisparateexperience share on social
Americans are uneasy with their possessions, guilty about power, all of which is difficult for Europeans to perceive because they are themselves so truly materialistic, so versed in the uses of power. Joan Didion americandifficulteuropean Change image and share on social
There's a general impulse to distract the grieving person - as if you could. Joan Didion distractgeneralgrieve Change image and share on social
Of course great hotels have always been social ideas, flawless mirrors to the particular societies they service. Joan Didion flawlessgreathotel Change image and share on social
You aren't sure if you're making the right decision - about anything, ever. Joan Didion decisionmake Change image and share on social
I don't lead a writer's life. And I think that can be a source of suspicion and irritation to some people. Joan Didion irritationleadlife Change image and share on social
It took me a couple of years after I got out of Berkeley before I dared to start writing. That academic mind-set - which was kind of shallow in my case anyway - had begun to fade. Joan Didion academicbeginberkeley Change image and share on social
The truth is, it's easier for me to write than talk... to express the state I'm in at any time. Joan Didion easyexpressstate Change image and share on social
