The Art of Looking Back: Joan Didion and American Nostalgia - Hardcover

by Maggie McKinley (Author)

In The Art of Looking Back, Maggie McKinley evaluates the complex nature of nostalgia in the canon of Joan Didion, a theme that has often been taken for granted, oversimplified, and misunderstood. In reassessing this fraught concept, McKinley emphasizes the productive rather than regressive or escapist qualities of nostalgia in Didion's work, highlighting its role as a critical tool used to dissect cultural myths and understand individual identity. McKinley's contextualized analysis offers a nuanced understanding of Didion's views of American history, national rhetoric, hubris, gender politics, grief and loss, and more, underscoring why Didion's writing remains deeply relevant as a cultural touchstone in the twenty-first century.

Author Biography

Maggie McKinley is professor of English at Harper College. She is the author of Understanding Norman Mailer and Masculinity and the Paradox of Violence in American Fiction, 1950-75, and the editor of Norman Mailer in Context and Philip Roth in Context.