Run River

novel by Didion

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June 17, 2026

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Run River is the debut novel by Joan Didion, published in 1963. The novel explores the disintegration of a family in California. Didion, known for her lucid prose and incisive depictions of social unrest and psychological fragmentation, was a prominent voice in New Journalism. While Run River focuses on a family's decline, Didion's later works, such as Slouching Towards Bethlehem and The White Album, delved into the social upheavals of the 1960s counterculture and broader political themes.12

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Joan Didion
Early life: From Vogue to her first novel
…Didion wrote her first novel, Run River (1963), which examines the disintegration of a California family. In 1977 Didion told The Paris Review that 12 publishers passed on the novel while it was a 150-page work in progress. It was finally picked up by publisher Ivan Obolensky, who gave her…
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…Didion wrote her first novel, Run River (1963), which examines the disintegration of a California family. In 1977 Didion told The Paris Review that 12 publishers passed on the novel while it was a 150-page work in progress. It was finally picked up by publisher Ivan Obolensky, who gave her…
Read More