The Last Thing He Wanted


The Last Thing He Wanted is a novel by Joan Didion. It was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1996.
The story centers on Elena McMahon, a reporter for the Washington Post who quits her job covering the 1984 United States presidential election to care for her father after her mother's death. In an unusual turn of events, she inherits his position as an arms dealer for the U.S. Government in Central America. In this sparsely written, quick-paced narrative, Elena struggles to cope with the spies, American military personnel, and the consequences of her father's errors that are waiting for her on a small island off the coast of Antillas.

Major characters

In September 2017, it was announced Dee Rees would direct an adaptation of the film, from a screenplay by Rees and Marco Villalobos. Anne Hathaway, Willem Dafoe, and Ben Affleck star in the film, with Netflix distributing.