According to the flyleaf I first finished the book on the bike 6am. Mo 11/22/93.
Refinished Th 2/10/22 after the dentist for the 'deep cleaning' on the left side.
A selection of essays by Joan Didion and she died a couple of weeks ago and I stumbled upon this book in the stacks downstairs.
The link to the book's page on Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_White_Album_(book)
My favorite essay concerned the 'group lanes' on the Los Angeles highway system. To expedite traffic, the authorities made the far left passing lane only accessible by vehicles with more than one person in the car. But instead of reducing the volume, it created more problems because during the busiest times you only had two lanes instead of three. It cost a lot, but they continued this boondoggle.
Also the paranoia in Hollywood over the Manson Murders. Didion had been to the Polanski home and Roman spilled a drink on her dress and ruined it. All 'the famous' felt that they were much too close to this evil that had infected 'the love generation'.
The review of the book at The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2020/jan/09/joan-didions-the-white-album-review-kaleidoscopic-view-of-the-60s-brought-to-stage
Joan Didion was a true intellectual and the stories are well written and contain some very sharp insights. I will be on the lookout for more by this author.
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