Aural Fixations, The Rumpus Mixtape #4: Reading Didion

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Great writers wound us.

Their words cut into our bodies; their ideas become notions of ourselves. Cue Joan Didion. She stitches sentences through your brain. You emerge exhausted and charged — agreeing, disagreeing and questioning. Reading Didion invites a conjuring of her.

Wounded by her you know this:  this world is going to require more of us than we believe we can summon, then more and yet still more. Picture a day–maybe it’s your last day to live–how would you know?  Maybe it’s raining. Maybe the Santa Ana winds are blowing. We slouch, keep secrets and hide our true confessions. The world is cold comfort; the world is all there is. We are a people; we are a blot of individuals. It is all either dazzling, dizzying sun or pouring rain. There are few gentle mists in Didion’s world. For that, we are grateful. Read on.

The player is embedded here, but here’s also a direct link for mobile devices. (Circa run time: 54:12.)

 

-1-
“Tangled Up in Blue”
Bob Dylan
Blood on the Tracks

-2-
“Breakers”
Gem Club
Breakers

-3-
“All the Way From America”
Joan Armatrading
Me Myself, I

-4-
“Heights of Diamond”
Adam Haworth Stephens
We Live on Cliffs

-5-
“California Dreamin’”
The Mamas & the Papas
The Mamas & the Papas Greatest Hits

-6-
“Malibu”
Hole
Celebrity Skin

-7-
“Again”
Etta James
Etta James: Love Songs

-8-
“Montana”
Youth Lagoon
The Year of Hibernation

-9-
“Dear Prudence”
The Beatles
The Beatles (White Album)

-10-
“Success Has Made a Failure of Our Home”
Sinéad O’Connor
Am I Not Your Girl?

-11-
“Slouching Towards Bethlehem”
Joni Mitchell
Night Ride Home

-12-
“Miami”
Al Jolson
Al Jolson Fifty Favourites

-13-
“Thank You for Your Love”
Antony & the Johnsons
Thank You for Your Love – EP

**Please note that this mix will random generate after the first listen in order to accommodate copyright agreements.**

Anna March's novel, The Diary of Suzanne Frank, is forthcoming. Her essays, reviews, fiction, playlists and poetry have appeared in Salon, The Rumpus and many other publications. She has been nominated for a Pushcart. She is currently at work on a memoir. Read more at annamarch.com. Email her at anna@annamarch.com, and follow her on Twitter @annamarch. More from this author →