Blue Nights Reviews
BookBrowse
"Joan Didion's writing seems to get more brittle with the passing of time; Blue Nights was just so depressing that even I, a fan of the downbeat and melancholy, felt bludgeoned by the sheer bleakness of it. Writers like Alice Munro and Margaret Atwood are doing a much better (and livelier!) job of mining similar territory, i.e., aging, the passing of time, family relationships, etc." - Marnie Colton
Other Reviewers
"[F]ull of fury and fragility and yet somehow anaemic... Even the passages where [Quintana] might have come to life are rendered needlessly brittle by Didion's stabbing, birdlike prose with its constant repetitions and exhortations such as 'Do note...' and 'Let me repeat...' Where the book is most successful - and most poignant - is in the viciously honest picture Didion draws of a lonely, encroaching old age." - The Guardian (UK)
"Essential reading for anyone who has ever mourned, has fretted as a parent, or simply loves good writing - that is, nearly all of us." - Library Journal
"Starred Review. The book feels like an epitaph for both her daughter and herself, as she considers how much aging has demolished her preconceptions about growing old... A slim, somber classic." - Kirkus Reviews
"Starred Review. Didion continually demonstrates her keen survival instincts, and her writing is, as ever, truculent and mesmerizing, scrutinizing herself as mercilessly as she stares down death." - Publishers Weekly
"...Didion is courageous in both her candor and artistry, ensuring that this infinitely sad yet beguiling book of distilled reflections and remembrance is graceful and illuminating in its blue musings." - Booklist
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Rated 
of 5
by
Inez Star
Didion's Pretensions Turnoff
Absolutely, she knows how to write and absolutely has a worthy subject for introspection -- the death of her adopted daughter. But I must admit I couldn't get past her pretentious descriptions of places, literature, little cakes, whatever... Who cares? Surely, she gives her reading audience more credit or does she really think she's impressing?
I found it an obstacle -- or then again, maybe it wasn't if I had interpreted as a look into Didion's character.
