I read Slouching Toward Bethlehem just before heading to New York for my first visit. Oh! How I loved this book and all it invited – and now here I am in California! A quintessential portrait of America in the 60s. I held fast to it for years, afraid I would lose the stories as much as their physical casing. The magic of Didion’s last title was in the spare language of her writing at a time of unimaginable loss — of husband (best friend) and her daughter.