{"product_id":"the-uptown-local-1","title":"The Uptown Local: Joy, Death, and Joan Didion: A Memoir","description":"\u003cp\u003eA brilliant debut memoir about a young writer—struggling with depression, family issues, and addiction—and his life-changing decade working for Joan Didion\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\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. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis raw, unflinching literary memoir is a story of two worlds colliding—one of intellectual glamour, the other of private grief.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eA Literary Mentorship:\u003c\/b\u003e Go inside the rarefied world of a cultural icon, from morning poetry recitations to dinners with Supreme Court justices, and witness the generous friendship that shaped a young writer’s life.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eMental Health and Addiction:\u003c\/b\u003e A courageous look at the secret struggle with depression and the looming forces of addiction, even while living at the center of the New York literary scene.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eFamily Secrets:\u003c\/b\u003e Explore the fault lines of class and family as the author spends his weekends visiting his father in a federal prison, grappling with a legacy of fraud and loss.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eA Coming of Age Story:\u003c\/b\u003e A deeply moving account of navigating a life-changing decade, searching for creative validation while reeling from the death of a close friend and the eternal pursuit of a life worth living.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"None","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":46165426798769,"sku":"9780063371576","price":35.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0655\/8980\/5233\/files\/1_5b27c586-ba0e-4599-a1a6-6dbf3a15ad1c.jpg?v=1757126940","url":"https:\/\/www.indigo.ca\/products\/the-uptown-local-1","provider":"Indigo","version":"1.0","type":"link"}