First published in 1979, The White Album records indelibly the upheavals
and aftermaths of the 1960s. Examining key events, figures, and trends of
the era—including Charles Manson, the Black Panthers, and the shopping
mall—through the lens of her own spiritual confusion, Joan Didion helped to
define mass culture as we now understand it. Written with a commanding
sureness of tone and linguistic precision, The White Album is a central
text of American reportage and a classic of American autobiography.