Joan Didion was a writer’s writer;not only a groundbreaking journalist, essayist, novelist, and screenwriter, but also a keen observer of life in all its humor, disappointment, and grace. The World According to Joan Didion offers a meditation on the people, places, and objects that propelled Didion’s prose and an invitation to writers and life adventurers to “throw themselves into the convulsions of the world,” as Didion once said. McDonnell surfaces Didion’s writing—both published and unpublished—visits with people who knew Didion, and interviews those inspired by her. The World According to Joan Didion traces the path Didion carved from Sacramento, Los Angeles, and Malibu to Manhattan, Miami, and Hawai‘i. This book is more than a biography, it is a literary map for those embarking on new journeys and a guide to idiosyncratic ways of being.