Last Thing He Wanted - Softcover

Joan Didion

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007454244 ISBN 13: 9780007454242

Publisher: Fourth Estate, 2011

Synopsis

A thrilling and exhilarating exploration of U.S. politics in Central America from Joan Didion, the hugely acclaimed author of The Year of Magical Thinking. It is 1984. Journalist Elena McMahon, watching her evasive, gruff father's life ebbing away before her, clutches at understanding him to grasp little more than air. But harder, keener forces impel her to do his bidding, to go naked into a `situation' in Central America, because `things were hotting up again'.

About this title

Review:

Elena McMahon is a reporter for the Washington Post and the unlikely inheritor of her father's complex and secretive life as an arms dealer for the U.S. Government in Central America. The year is 1984, and as she flies to an unnamed island off the coast of Costa Rica, she is oblivious to the spies, American military personnel, and the consequences of her father's errors that await her. She's also unprepared for the advances of Treat Morrison, an American diplomat whose service under six administrations has made him a "crisis junkie." Treat narrates this story, offering a unique perspective on Elena, a woman who abandons one life for another.

From the Inside Flap:

From one of America's most celebrated writers, a highly distilled, dark and thrilling narrative that takes place between 1984 and the present. Speaking in the present, the narrator makes clear that this is her version of what happened in 1984. In cool, spare, and elegant prose, Joan Didion delivers a powerful work. Simultaneous hardcover release from Knopf. 2 cassettes.

About this edition

• Publisher: Fourth Estate
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0007454244
• ISBN 13: 9780007454242
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 238