From here, the author chooses to include an essay on a Communist she once interviewed and an essay on the public's obsession with the rumors swirling around recluse billionaire Howard Hughes.

Then, she writes about Joan Baez and her school of non-violence. As a fan and a personal friend, Didion is devastated by Wayne's illness and writes as an ode to his strength. The author writes her essay in the aftermath of Wayne's first bout with cancer. Then Didion turns her attention to movie idol John Wayne. Miller in a position to believe it was reasonable for her to kill her husband in order to achieve her heart's desire, another man. Didion presents the case with the opinion that it was the expectations of grandeur prevalent in San Bernardino that put Mrs. Miller was accused of lighting her husband on fire and watching him burn. When the car would not navigate the embankment, Mrs. Miller intentionally poured gas on her unconscious husband and then attempted to drive the car over an embankment. Miller claimed that her car accidentally caught on fire after a nail in her tire caused her to hit the curb.

The first essay is about a woman, Lucille Miller, who was put on trial in 1965 for the murder of her husband. The essays are all set in the time in which they were written, the nineteen sixties, and provide commentary on life as seen through Didion's eyes. Slouching Toward Bethlehem begins with essays on life in southern California. It is a collection that will cause the reader to think, whether the reader agrees with Didion's opinions or not. Each essay is a self contained commentary on life, on lifestyles, and on life's expectations based on the time they were written, the 1960s. Each essay is personal, full of insights and opinions. The essays range in topic from murder to hippies, and from the meaning of self-respect to the existence of morality in the modern world. Slouching Toward Bethlehem is a collection of essays by the writer Joan Didion.

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