The Right Nation: Conservative Power in America.

New York: The Penguin Press, 2004. First edition, second printing of this bold analysis of modern America. Octavo, original half cloth. From the library of Joan Didion with an autograph note on The Economist Group business letterhead signed and entirely in the hand of John Micklethwait, "Dear Joan, As promised (or threatened) here is a copy of my soon-to-be-released book on conservative America, in which you make a fleeting appearance. John Micklethwait." American journalist and novelist Joan Didion gained a reputation in the 1960s and 70s as a pioneer of the New Journalism style of news writing. Her articles and political writing engaged audiences in the realities of the counterculture of the 1960s, the Hollywood lifestyle, California culture, and California history. She also gained recognition for her sensational novels, including her first nonfiction book, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, a collection of magazine pieces about her experiences in California. In 2005, Didion won the National Book Award for Nonfiction and was a finalist for both the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize for The Year of Magical Thinking, a memoir of the year following the death of her husband. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket painting by Norman Rockwell. "Elegantly written, comprehensive and scrupulously fair-minded, The Right Nation is required reading for anybody who wants to understand the United States today" (Walter Russell Mead).