Joan Didion (b. 1934) is a novelist, journalist, screenwriter, author of five novels and eight books of nonfiction, including the famous collections of essays “Stealing to Bethlehem” (1968) and “The White Album” (1979). Among the films based on Didion’s scripts is “Panic in Needle Park” (1971), a prize-winner at the Cannes Film Festival. The writer’s latest books began to reflect on the loss of those closest to her. “The Year of Magical Thinking” (2005), which received the US National Book Award, tells the story of the death of Didion’s husband, writer John Gregory Dunne, with whom she had a close creative relationship. The book was reworked into a one-man show, brilliantly played on Broadway by Vanessa Redgrave. “Blue Nights” is dedicated to Quintana Roo, the adopted daughter of Didion and Dunne. This is a frank and fearless reflection on love and motherhood, time and death. Joan Didion, with amazing courage, turns her pain into beautiful, humane, uplifting prose.