--- product_id: 43910983 title: "Political Fictions" brand: "joan didion" price: "£20.91" currency: GBP in_stock: true reviews_count: 8 url: https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/43910983-political-fictions store_origin: GB region: Great Britain --- # Political Fictions **Brand:** joan didion **Price:** £20.91 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Political Fictions by joan didion - **How much does it cost?** £20.91 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.uk](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/43910983-political-fictions) ## Best For - joan didion enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted joan didion brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Political Fictions ## Images ![Political Fictions - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/513sFUwK-iL.jpg) ![Political Fictions - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51XkRS6sSmL.jpg) ![Political Fictions - Image 3](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/311Xjo7vUkL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐ Thought-provoking views but highly annoying writing style *by P***R on Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2001* I had several problems with this collection of essays, but first and foremost among them was Ms. Didion's, shall we say, different writing style. [The following sentence does reflect my views but, for purposes of illustration, is written in Didion-speak:] I cannot believe that others who have read these essays have not had a similar reaction, because she seems to have an extreme aversion to periods which, when combined with her love of including multiple concepts in each sentence (often set forth by use of parenthetical footnotes or illustrations), and further combined with her EXTREME use of the passive tense--in which the main thrust of the message she was trying to convey in the given sentence is withheld until the very end of the sentence--made for numerous sentences that were virtually impossible to follow the first time through and instead required 3 and 4 re-readings, and even then were difficult to follow. If I didn't know that Ms. Didion already has an established reputation as a superb writer with, as the NYT calls it, ""ice pick/lasre beam/night scope sniper prose", I would have thought some of her writing to be simply abominable. Indeed, I felt that her reputation is so entrenched, that no editor would ever have the nerve to alter any of her writing and so what seem like random (and rambling) musings get committed to the final draft exactly as they appeared in the first draft. That is not to say that her views aren't provocative--I just wish that some of them could have been put to paper by someone else.Just by way of illustration--and believe me, I could have picked from any one of dozens and dozens of examples--consider the following sentences and see if you can fully follow them the first time through--and note that each of them is just one sentence:"This account of Mrs. Clinton's not entirely remarkable and in any case private conversations with Jean Houston appeared under the apparently accurate if unsurprsing headline "At a Difficult Time, First Lady Reaches Out, Looks Within," occupied one-hundred and fifty-four column inches, was followed by a six-column inch box explaining the rules under which Mr. woodward conducted his interviews, and included among similar revelations teh news that, according to an unidentified source (Mr. Woodward tells us that some of his interviews were on the record, others "conducted under journalistic ground rules of 'background' or 'deep background', meaning the information could be used but the sources of the information could not be identified"), Mrs. Clinton had at some unspecified point in 1995 disclosed to Jean Houston ("Dialogue and quotations come from at least one participant, from memos or from contemporaneous notes or diaries from a participant in the discussion") that "she was sure that good habits were the key to survival."Clear as can be, right? Consider this one:"The "future historian" who might be interested in piecing together the details of how the Clinton adminstration arrived at its program for health care reform, however, will find, despite a promising page of index references, that none of the key participants interviewed for The Agenda apparently thought to discuss what might have seemed the central curiosity in the process, which was by wha political miscalculation a plan initially meant to remove third-party profit from the health-care equation (or to "take on the insurance industry" as Puting People First, the manifesto of the 1992 Clinton-Gore campaign had phrased it) would become one distrusted by large numbers of Americans precisely because it seemed to enlarge and further entrench the role of the insurance industry."And finally:"The more grave misreading, as D'Souza sees it, came from within Reagan's own party, not from his more pragmatic aides (the "prags", or "ingrates and apostates", whose remarkably similar descriptions of the detachment at the center of the administration in which they served suggested to D'Souza "an almost definat loyalty") but even from his "hard-core" admirers or "true believers", those movement conservatives who considered Reagan a "malleable figurehead" too often controlled by pragmatists on his staff."I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Could these views have been expressed with any more clarity than that? Finally, I also felt that there was a certain desultory nature about the essays and they were only connected by a theme to a certain degree. On page 7, she talks about how the political process did not reflect but proceded from a series of fables about the Americna experience. And indeed, a number of the essays do address this topic. But what do her various "book reviews" such as those of books by Dinesh D'Souza, Newt Gingrich and Bob Woodward have to do with that theme. So far as I can tell, not much. In all, it's not a bad book, but I almost wish that Ms. Didion's thoughts could have been committed to paper by someone else. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Skewering Politics & News Media *by P***A on Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2016* Another of Didion’s winners. She surgically parses weaknesses in party platforms, and public statements of both liberals and conservatives. Then she evaluates how news media confounds public understanding even further with sound bites and analysis lacking in full understanding. In other words political platforms and announcements are transparently useless so far as public understanding and reality of derivative programs if concerned. Then made worse by cryptic news media analysis. All of this from a person having grown up in the California conservative traditions of Sacramento. She spares neither side of our disfunctional two party system. Thus on one side our political parties formulate programs flawed by misperception of real need made worse by lobbied influence weakening intended effects/affects. Her book is dated 2001 and contains vignettes from earlier decades of such as Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich. What she has to say of those times seem generally applicable to our present political environment perhaps, in my judgement, with no visible improvement in legislative programs or public debate about them. Public programs of 2008 concessions to wealth differed only in focus as well as fiscal scope and impact. Otherwise our present is a replay of such as the Gingrich contract with America or Clinton’s poverty programs ‘improvements’. One of her terse observations is illustrative of what the reader will find - “What strikes one most vividly about such a campaign is precisely its remoteness from the real life of the country.” Does this not reasonably fit many speeches in our present local and national election season? Perhaps the much broader ideological spread between Sanders, Clinton, and Trump is an exception as reflected in the party nominating conventions. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Vintage Didion *by D***A on Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2021* These collected essays from a couple of decades ago on political campaigns of Clinton, Gore, Dukakis, and jackson, the ascendancy of Newt Gingrich, and the foibles of assorted other Washington political types is a treasure. Joan Didion's taut phrasing, acerbic conclusions, and cerebral humor remain insightful and enlightening. Well worth the read. Vintage Didion. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/43910983-political-fictions](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/43910983-political-fictions) --- *Product available on Desertcart Great Britain* *Store origin: GB* *Last updated: 2026-05-02*