{"product_id":"uptown-local-1","title":"Uptown Local","description":"\u003cp\u003e''\u003cb\u003eA persuasive case for the argument that writers should write about writers\u003c\/b\u003e'' \u003ci\u003eFINANCIAL TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''\u003cb\u003eA beautifully written and deeply moving memoir\u003c\/b\u003e'' DANA SPIOTTA\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs an aspiring novelist in his early twenties, Cory Leadbeater was presented with an opportunity to work for a well-known writer whose identity was kept confidential. Since the tumultuous days of childhood, Cory had sought refuge from the rougher parts of life in the pages of books. Suddenly, he found himself the personal assistant to a titan of literature: Joan Didion.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the nine years that followed, Cory shared Joan''s rarefied world, transformed not only by her blazing intellect but by her generous friendship and mentorship. Together they recited poetry in the mornings, dined with Supreme Court justices, attended art openings, smoked a single cigarette before bed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut secretly, Cory was spiraling. He reeled from the death of a close friend. He spent his weekends at a federal prison, visiting his father as he served time for fraud. He struggled day after day to write the novel that would validate him as a real writer. And meanwhile, the forces of addiction and depression loomed large.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn hypnotic prose that pulses with life and longing, The Uptown Local explores the fault lines of class, family, loss, and creativity. It is a love letter to a cultural icon-and a moving testament to the relationships that sustain us in the eternal pursuit of a life worth living.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''\u003cb\u003eLeadbeater makes us see there was so much more to Joan Didion (to all of us) than just one thing\u003c\/b\u003e'' \u003ci\u003eGUARDIAN\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''\u003cb\u003ePoignant and intimate \u003c\/b\u003e. . . \u003cb\u003ea beautiful, heartrending book\u003c\/b\u003e'' CRISTINA HENRIQUEZ\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''\u003cb\u003eAt once tender and brutal, surreal and direct, cerebral and visceral . . . A spectacular debut\u003c\/b\u003e'' LILLY DANCYGER\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MediaPlace","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57400280154494,"sku":"NW9780349127194","price":21.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1379\/1261\/files\/9780349127194.jpg?v=1778675946","url":"https:\/\/mediaplace.com\/en-eu\/products\/uptown-local-1","provider":"MediaPlace","version":"1.0","type":"link"}