The Last Thing He Wanted
The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion, published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group on September 2, 1997, is a reprint edition comprising 240 pages. This intricate, fast-paced novel explores the complexities of democracy through the lens of conspiracies, arms dealing, and assassinations. The story follows Elena McMahon, who, having distanced herself from her life of celebrity fundraisers and her powerful husband, embarks on a journey that leads her to confront her father’s business dealings, despite her efforts to remain uninvolved.
Readers will find a narrative that intertwines personal and political elements, as Didion connects events surrounding Dallas, Iran-Contra, and Castro. The novel delves into the implications of Elena’s choices and the larger forces at play, revealing a dark historical underbelly. This edition presents a compelling exploration of the intersections between personal lives and political machinations, making it a significant addition to the genres of fiction, thrillers, and crime.
Official synopsis Publisher
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “Didion at her finest” —USA Today • An intricate, fast-paced novel about trying to create a context for democracy and getting hands a little dirty in the process, complete with conspiracies, arms dealing, and assassinations. From the author of The Year of Magical Thinking and Let Me Tell You What I Mean
The narrator introduces Elena McMahon, estranged from a life of celebrity fundraisers and from her powerful West Coast husband, Wynn Janklow, whom she has left, taking Catherine, her daughter, to become a reporter for The Washington Post. She finds herself boarding a plane for Florida to see her father. She becomes embroiled in her his business even though “she had trained herself since childhood not to have any interest in what he was doing.” It is from this moment that she is caught up in something much larger than she could have imagined.
Didion makes connections among Dallas, Iran-Contra, and Castro, and points out how “spectral companies with high-concept names tended to interlock.” As this book builds to its terrifying finish, we see the underpinnings of a dark historical underbelly.
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