After Henry

The author of the current `all the rage' bestseller "The Year of Magical Thinking" produced this collection of non-fiction pieces in 1993, which divides into three psychogeographic sections: Washington (3 essays); California (7 essays); New York (1 essay). At each stop Didion uncovers the mythic narratives that elude other observers. She tells readers about the fantasies the media construct around crime victims and presidential candidates; she give new interpretations of the stories of Nancy Reagan and Patty Hearst; she charts America's rollercoaster ride through evanescent booms and hard times that won't go away - in this bracing amalgam of skepticism and sympathy. 319p.