LIVE from NYPL: Joan Didion and the American Dream Machine

From her early fascination with John Wayne and California’s pioneer past to her rise as a Hollywood screenwriter, Joan Didion both shaped and dismantled the myths that define American culture. In We Tell Ourselves Stories, Alissa Wilkinson delves into the nearly 40-year span during which Didion and John Gregory Dunne worked in Hollywood, examining their impact on film and storytelling. Coinciding with the opening of the Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne archives at the Library, Wilkinson reveals how Didion’s writing not only critiqued Hollywood’s illusions but also solidified its hold on the American imagination.