The Los Angeles Review of Books (LARB) dedicated an entire week of essays to Joan Didion and her new memoir Blue Nights. Six writers shared their thoughts about the new book; one essay was published each day this week.

The group includes LARB senior fiction editor Matthew Specktor, Take One Candle Light a Room author Susan Straight, literary journalism professor Amy Wilentz, Cool Shades author Amy Emphron and LA Times columnist Meghan Daum. The last piece, written by Los Angeles Without a Map novelist Richard Rayner, will be published tomorrow.

LARB editor-in-chief Tom Lutz gave this statement in the release: “Didion is an icon of literary L.A. despite living in New York much of her life. In 1976 she wrote that ‘[t]o shift the structure of a sentence alters the meaning of that sentence, as definitely and inflexibly as the position of a camera alters the meaning of the object photographed.’ That attention to style, structure, perspective, and meaning animates the essays we’re featuring this week.”

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Publishers Weekly had more details: “Reynolds, who wrote the ‘Discoveries’ book column at LAT, will write two columns of reviews per month for the online magazine beginning in late August.”

The new book review will also publish the “Paperback Writers” column by Richard Rayner, another former LA Times columnist.

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Rayner had this statement: “It’s a sad indicator of where things stand in the book world that my column ‘Paperback Writers’ was dropped by the Los Angeles Times … But I’m delighted and thrilled that it will now be carried by the Los Angeles Review of Books, a vibrant new publication which has already featured so many great writers and is set on refreshing and expanding LA’s literary landscape.”

His column will continue to focus on “reissues, new titles, classics—especially works that don’t otherwise get the attention they deserve.” Rayner has written five novels and four nonfiction titles, including Los Angeles Without A Map and A Bright And Guilty Place.

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The Los Angeles Times

Publishers Weekly had the scoop: “Reynolds was with the Times for 23 years as both a staffer and freelancer and wrote the ‘Discoveries’ column that appeared each week in the Sunday book review. She was told that her column was cancelled and will not be replaced by another writer … Jon Thurber, editor of the book review, explained to Reynolds last Thursday that all books-related stories will now be done in-house, and that the decision to cease eliminate non-staffers was based on his freelance budget being cut.”

In addition, “Paperback Writers” columnist Richard Rayner and “Word Play” columnist Sonja Bolle were also cut. Blog editor Tony Pierce has also been laid off. The newspaper would not reveal how many freelance jobs were lost. A spokesperson told Publishers Weekly “we have not changed our commitment” to writing about books.

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