A review by jaclynday
The Last Love Song: A Biography of Joan Didion by Tracy Daugherty

3.0

Early on, Daugherty notes that this will be a literary biography. (Also mentions he doesn’t do “dishy” biographies.) I’m fine with both those things. But–reader be warned–he wasn’t kidding about the literary part. While a very fine biography, it’s clear that the distance from the subject hurt the end result. Daugherty interprets and theorizes about her work vs. her life almost frantically from afar, perhaps making up for the fact that Didion (and her close friends, supposedly) did not cooperate with the writing. He is anxious for intimacy with the subject, does not really achieve it, and settles for a very good chronology coupled with musings on what cultural or political or personal event influenced Didion’s work. I think time is better spent reading (or re-reading) Didion’s actual writing instead. I felt like I knew her better there than after reading 600-odd pages about her life.