I'm pitching Joan Didion's Play It As It Lays.

我推荐的是琼·迪迪安的《顺其自然》
Joan Didion is, in my mind, one of the greatest

我认为琼·迪迪安是二十世纪下半叶
intellectuals of the second half of the twentieth century.

最伟大的学者之一
She is perhaps best known for her journalism, particularly her

也许她最广为人知的是新闻作品
collection of essays, Slouching Towards Bethlehem,

尤其是散文集《浪荡伯利恒》
which I believe came out in 1968, in which she coolly confronts and

这本书于1968年出版她冷静地正视
sensibly analyzes the confusing cultural climate of the late 1960s.

并理性地分析了20世纪60年代的文化环境
What I think is most remarkable about her reporting is the

她的纪实文学最不寻常的一点是
lack of naivety with which this literally tiny woman--

这位矮小的女子的文笔非常老练成熟
I don't know if you any of you seen a picture of her.

不知你们是否见过她的照片
She's just remarkably small.

她长得特别小
So, she is clear-eyed, but not unsympathetic,

她洞悉现实但并不冷漠无情