After Henry: Essays

Here, the National Book Award-winning author of The Year of Magical Thinking covers ground from Washington to Los Angeles, from a TV producer`s gargantuan "manor" to the racial battlefields of New York`s criminal courts. At each stop she uncovers the mythic narratives that elude other observers: Didion tells us about the fantasies the media construct around crime victims and presidential candidates; she gives us 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. A bracing amalgam of skepticism and sympathy, After Henry is further proof of Joan Didion`s infallible radar for the true spirit of our age.