Joan Didion and A Star Is Born (with Alissa Wilkinson in person + book signing)

In Alissa Wilkinson’s new cultural biography, We Tell Ourselves Stories: Joan Didion and the American Dream Machine, published by Norton Books, the New York Times film critic examines Didion’s influence through the lens of American mythmaking. Wilkinson follows Didion from New York to Hollywood, where she became involved in the glitz and glamor of the Los Angeles elite and acutely observed—and denounced—how the nation’s fears and dreams were sensationalized on-screen. Meanwhile, she paid the bills writing movie scripts like A Star Is Born, while her books propelled her to celestial heights of fame. 

We present a screening of the megahit A Star Is Born, co-written by Didion and John Gregory Dunne, and starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, followed by a discussed between Wilkinson and author Lauren Sandler (This Is All I Got: A New Mother’s Search for Home). Followed by a book signing. 

Film info: 

A Star Is Born 
Dir. Frank Pierson. 1976, 139 mins. U.S. 35mm. With Barbra Streisand, Kris Kristofferson, Gary Busey, Venetta Fields, Clydie King, Marta Heflin, M.G. Kelly, Sally Kirkland. Hollywood’s third version of American cinema’s sturdiest show-biz melodrama, following the 1937 version with Janet Gaynor and the 1954 musical with Judy Garland, stars Streisand as Esther Hoffman, whose rocket-like rise to fame as a music star parallels with the downfall of the self-destructive rock singer (Kristofferson) who discovered her. Featuring out-of-this-world chemistry between its leads and capturing the cultural mainstream of the mid-1970s with unusual authenticity, A Star Is Born won an Academy Award for its aching central ballad “Evergreen,” written by Streisand and Paul Williams. 

Tickets: $17.50 / $12 senior and students / $10 youth (ages 3–17) / free for MoMI members at the Senior/Student level and above. There is a $1.50 transaction fee per ticket for all online purchases. The cost of admission may be applied toward a same-day purchase of a membership. 

Order tickets. Please pick up tickets at the Museum’s admissions desk upon arrival. All seating is general admission. 

Alissa Wilkinson is a film critic at the New York Times and was formerly a senior correspondent and critic at Vox. Her previous book, Salty: Lessons on Eating, Drinking, and Living from Revolutionary Women, was published in 2022. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. 

Lauren Sandler is the author of three books of nonfiction, including the New York Times Notable Book This Is All I Got: A New Mother’s Search for Home. A former NPR producer, Sandler’s journalism, essays, and columns have appeared in dozens of publications including The New York Times, Slate, The Atlantic, The Nation, The New Republic, The Guardian, and New York Magazine. She has been a regular commentator for the BBC and a frequent guest on television and radio addressing issues of gender, culture, religion, and inequality. Sandler currently is at work on her fourth book, American Prophecy: One Family, Two Nations, and a World on Fire, to be published by Random House in 2026.