The Uptown LocalAs 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. In the nine years that followed, Cory shared Joan's rarefied world, transformed