Doo Wop Didion

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When a prose writer is referred to as a stylist, it has to do with the rhythm of the words.

The written words become music to the reader's ear.

More often than not, the sound of the sentences will be something jazzy,
as if you could tap your feet in time with the punctuation.

Ms. Didion

But in the case of  Joan Didion,
the rhythm of her words sound
more like doo wop than jazz.

 


This page is excerpted from  Blue Nights,
a memoir about the death of her daughter, Quintana.

Joan Didion
Blue Lights

The next Didion page is  here. 

The phrase  Only yesterday  appears
six times plus one variation:
only the day before yesterday.

I do no mean to make light
of the subject matter but
with my third ear,

I can hear background singers
chanting in a somber tone: 
Only yesterday   

while the rest of the text
is recited/sung with
all due emotion.

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