SLOUCHING TOWARDS BETHLEHEM Essays

Maya Hawke performs this classic collection superbly. She pays attention to Joan Didion's exquisite prose and captures her careful observations--such as a 5-year-old on acid in San Francisco and the evolution of her native Sacramento once aerospace engineers arrived, among other topics. Hawke gets Didion's measured pace and thoughtful tone just right as she conveys the much-admired author's idiosyncratic, elegant language. The audiobook vividly brings back the 1960s, when Didion, Tom Wolfe, and Hunter S. Thompson created "new journalism." Didion's various topics include her personal experience in the New York literary world, John Wayne, and observations of postwar Hawaii. Overall, Didion writes eloquently, and Hawke's lovely voice and professional delivery are a good fit. A.D.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2024]