Slouching Towards Bethlehem, by Joan Didion

Before the Didion craze, there was this—and sure, there was a lot before this—but Slouching Towards Bethlehem is where to start with Joan Didion. She is the ultimate cool and keen-eyed observer of the human condition, of America, and of gracefully merciless self-examination. Though, as ferocious and important as her topics are, she always leaves a gift for the reader. I, for instance, cannot eat a peach or turn on the air conditioning without thinking, just a little, of her essay "Goodbye to All That."

–SC

