Cory Leadbeater

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Articles

The Uptown Local: Joy, Death, and Joan Didion

Dec 1, 2024 | literaryreview.co.uk | Lili Anolik |Cory Leadbeater |Griffin Dunne

In the late 1970s, Joan Didion sent her friend Susanna Moore a note containing two pieces of advice: ‘Read The Golden Bowl’; ‘Stop running away.’ It arrived just after Moore had abruptly moved from Los Angeles to London without telling Didion she was leaving. If Lili Anolik is to be trusted, there is a good chance that the note was written on personalised stationery, with ‘JOAN DIDION DUNNE’ engraved at the top.
The Uptown Local: Joy, Death, and Joan Didion: A Memoir

Jul 19, 2024 | bookreporter.com | Cory Leadbeater

Cory Leadbeater had just applied for a position as a personal assistant to famed author Joan Didion. He didn’t know it would turn into an eight-year friendship that would be life-affirming. Cory hailed from a lower-middle-class family in Jersey City. His relationship with his father can be aptly described as night and day. There were times when Cory accompanied him to his job and enjoyed every second with him. But then there were days when Cory was the target of his abuse.
The Uptown Local By Cory Leadbeater

Jul 19, 2024 | 3quarksdaily.com | Cory Leadbeater |Morgan Meis

Claire Dederer at The Guardian:I know too much about Joan Didion. I've seen her image on tote bags and Celine ads; I've scrolled past her beautiful sulking face on countless Instagram feeds; I've streamed multiple documentaries about her. You'll notice that I'm not describing her work; I'm describing her fame: the Didion spectacle. I'm impatient with this fame of hers. I believe she is famous for the wrong reasons; in other words, that she is loved wrongly and maybe too widely.
When Assessing Presidential Fitness, Consider Racism

Jul 2, 2024 | dailystarnewstoday.com | Cory Leadbeater

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. Donald Trump’s “Black jobs” comment is a reminder of his long history of racism. First, here are four new stories from The Atlantic:A History of RacismIt will take years, and probably some history books, to fully deconstruct CNN’s Debate From Hell and its consequences.
I Play Chess 40 Times a Day. Because I Must.

Jul 1, 2024 | theatlantic.com | Cory Leadbeater

If you are having thoughts of suicide, please know that you are not alone. If you are in danger of acting on suicidal thoughts, call 911. For support and resources, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or text 741741 for the Crisis Text Line. FOR THE PAST HALF-DECADE, I have found myself playing nearly 40 games of chess every day. I still work a full-time job, write fiction, raise a child, but these responsibilities are not prohibitive.
Book Review: ‘The Uptown Local: Joy, Death, and Joan Didion,’ by Cory Leadbeater

Jun 13, 2024 | entertainment-mag.com | Cory Leadbeater

There’s a gentle restraint to “Uptown Local” — a quick read, at barely over 200 pages — that partly redeems it. Such a book could easily exploit the hunger for revelations about Didion, but Leadbeater avoids that impulse. The woman who emerges is funny and gentle and voraciously curious about the world.
What I Learned From Living With Joan Didion

Jun 12, 2024 | newsbreak.com | Cory Leadbeater

Welcome to NewsBreak, an open platform where diverse perspectives converge. Most of our content comes from established publications and journalists, as well as from our extensive network of tens of thousands of creators who contribute to our platform. We empower individuals to share insightful viewpoints through short posts and comments.
What I Learned From Living With Joan Didion

Jun 12, 2024 | lithub.com | Cory Leadbeater

In the fall of 2013, my days and nights were wonderful and simple. I would wake in the morning to find Joan standing at the table, reading the paper, and as I edged into the kitchen, she would head to the stove to make me a one-egg omelet while I made sure her things were in order for the day. I took in the mail, I handled the bills, I booked her a car if she had a dinner, I sent flowers if a friend had a birthday or a show opening at a gallery.
Welcomed Into Joan Didion's Home, if Not Her Inner Circle

Jun 11, 2024 | nytimes.com | Cory Leadbeater

THE UPTOWN LOCAL: Joy, Death, and Joan Didion: A Memoir, by Cory LeadbeaterOne of Joan Didion's greatest talents was a bit of sorcery: She somehow became an icon of vulnerable self-revelation without being all that revealing. Her later memoirs, "The Year of Magical Thinking" and "Blue Nights," are full of the vulnerability that age can afford.
The Uptown Local: Joy, Death, and Joan Didion: A Memoir

Jun 9, 2024 | citylights.com | Cory Leadbeater

"Cory Leadbeater writes with beauty, precision and velocity and The Uptown Local is a memoir like no other. It's the story of his relationship with a great American writer, but it's also the saga of his family's dark struggle with 21st century American realities, not to mention his own terrifying years of grief, addiction and depression.