Items You Can Snag From Joan Didion’s Estate Sale

What’s so great about buying things from estate sales? The answer is simple: You get to tell people, “I got this at the oddest little estate sale.” To be able to purchase something from a famous person’s estate sale? That only quadruples the pleasure of such an utterance.

It’s been almost a year since Joan Didion’s death, and an assortment of the legendary writer’s belongings are now up for sale. During her life and since her passing, Didion has garnered a cult-like worship of her combined literary and literal visage. Owning an item, however useless, will only bring her admirers that much closer to her.

Stair Galleries in New York’s Hudson Valley is hosting the estate sale, titled “An American Icon: Property From the Collection of Joan Didion.” Her items are on view there and you’re able to bid for them online until November 16th. Proceeds from the sale will benefit Sacramento City College scholarship for women writers and Parkinson’s research at Columbia University.

I’ve highlighted some notable items in the auction, though not necessarily the most valuable. I’ve also included a few subtle ways you can work into casual conversation that you now own something once owned by Didion. Because let’s be honest, why else would you have bought a biography of John McCain that one Amazon reviewer described as a “dull and uninspiring book about a true American hero,” if not because Didion herself might have had the same thoughts while holding it in her bony, little, iconic hands?

Taken for Time Magazine in 1968, this cool and seductive portrait of the writer leaning against her Stingwray Corvette is one of her most iconic images.

What to say: Obviously you’ll have this hanging up somewhere prominent in your home for people to coo over. When they inevitably say, “I love this photo of Joan Didion,” you can reply, “And so did she.” And they’ll be like...“What?” And you’ll respond, “Oh, did I not mention this is her photo of herself?”

A California girl through and through, Didion’s shell and pebble collection would be the perfect decor to strew around your beach house. Be careful though, because I can imagine the little rocks getting thrown out by an uninformed dolt who assumed it was just your own stupid collection.

What to say: Hold one of the shells up to your ear and say, “Shh, this shell is telling me stories in order to live,” and then judge them if they don’t get the reference.

Imagine the writing you could accomplish with one of Didion’s Pilot V7 pens. Imagine the pills you could cut from a billowing wool sweater with this pair of shears.

What to say: When someone asks for a pen, hand them one of these and say, “What’re you writing? Hopefully, something as good The White Album, by the former owner of this pen.”

In 2015, Didion launched herself onto the vision boards of girls hoping to one day move to Manhattan by appearing in these Celine ads. The sunglasses are one of her most bid-on items and currently sit at $2,100.

What to say: “The sun is rather bright today. It’s almost as bright as the potential the world saw in Joan Didion, who once wore these, after she published her generative 1961 Vogue essay, ‘On Self Respect.’”

Oh god, another opportunity to purchase a new notebook with the promise of writing the next great American novel. Is there anything more enticing than the blank page? Just think! These could sit on your desk, unused, just like your other blank notebooks. But of course, these ones are special.

What to say: “Did you know that writer Joan Didion once described people who keep notebooks as ‘a different breed altogether, lonely...anxious malcontents.’ Anyway, this was her empty notebook that I’m leaving blank out of respect for her.”

Perhaps the most startling item in the auction is this novelty apron with the words, “Maybe broccoli doesn’t like you either.” Personally, I can’t imagine Didion ever uttering the phrase, but surely she had an intimate life behind her public persona that I’ll never know. Maybe she loved sarcastic souvenirs.

What to say: This is the item where I think you can outright say, “Take one guess as to which famous literary icon owned this.” Everyone will be guessing Julia Child or Jonathan Gold, while you smirk knowing the shocking truth.

Please suspend your disbelief when I tell you that as of publication, no one has bid on this John McCain biography. But perhaps that’s good news for you if you want to own something from this sale. This lot will cost you at least $200; I cannot argue that it is worth that.

What to say: “Do not trust me with financial decisions. I once spent $200 on a John McCain biography written before he even ran for president, just because Joan Didion touched it.”

This set of pink teacups is lovely! They’re more twee than I’d expect from Didion’s taste, but that’s what makes them exciting.

What to say: When serving tea to your guests, even if they are a bunch of inanimate dolls and stuffed animals, remark that you read once that if someone is experiencing grief, you should present them with tea. Pause for a moment and then say, “Ah! I remember! I read that in The Year of Magical Thinking, a book written by the woman who actually owned these.”

Another item that doesn’t immediately scream “Didion!” but did make me squeal in delight. Look at that sleepy little kitten! Is she sick? Does she miss her mother? I need to know where this was hanging in Didion’s home.

What to say: I’d really just draw in pen on the wall next to where this frame is hanging “Didion’s cat drawing,” with an arrow pointing to it.

Didion had her photo taken in this throne of an accent chair a number of times.

What to say: People will surely comment on this accent chair. They might say something like, “What a gorgeous, big chair.” You can then respond, “Funny, I purchased it from the estate sale of a very tiny, small woman.” They will say, “How did you know the size of the woman who once owned this chair?” And you will say, “I’ll just tell you. It was Joan Didion. Joan Didion owned this chair.”