The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Didion, Joan. Miami. Vintage, 1998.

Miami is divided into 4 parts and sixteen chapters in total, but this guide divides the book into five sections for ease of summary and analysis.

The first section of this guide discusses Chapters 1 through 4. Didion provides a preliminary description of Miami's tropical environment and Cuban cultural influence, particularly noting the nationalism of the Miami Cuban exiles and their collective commemoration of what they consider to be the fiasco of the Bay of Pigs invasion. She then dives deeper into an analysis of the Miami environment, both physical and emotional, emphasizing its variability, hypocrisies, and yet her relative sense of safety during her time working there, despite knowing the many racial and class tensions existing in the city. Didion spends some time summarizing the most violent incidents of racial tensions in the city, focusing on the McDuffie case and acquittals which sparked demonstrations and attacks.

The second section of this guide discusses Chapters 5 through 7. Didion focuses on the important role played by Miami Cubans in the development of the city, both political and cultural, but notes the tensions between the Cuban exiles who make up a majority of the population and the Anglo-American Miamians who nevertheless feel more entitled to the city and its shaping. Didion also is careful to highlight the many divisions within the Cuban exile community itself, with one's stance on Communism playing a defining role in which 'camp' one is accepted into or rejected from.

The third section of this guide discusses Chapters 8 through 10. Didion explores the violence done by Cuban exiles against each other in their political and ideological battles. Exiles in favor of the normalization of relations between Cuba and the United States are often faced with the worst intimidation, since they are viewed during this period as traitors to their native cause.

The fourth section of this guide discusses Chapters 11 through 13, with Didion next highlighting the Cuban exiles living in New York and Washington and how their lives intertwine with those of the Cubans in Miami. She also turns her attention to the way in which Washington, as the political center of the United States, simultaneously collaborated with and acted as an obstacle to the Cuban exile activists from Miami. President Reagan, in particular, seemed to try to 'play' both sides of the Cuban cause and to prioritize Washington's agenda over promises made to the Cuban community.

The fifth section of this guide discusses Chapters 14 through 16. Didion further explores Washington's interactions with Miami -- specifically, the Cuban part of Miami -- and the often bitter, entangled legacy of that relationship at the time of her writing. The 'betrayal' of the Cuban cause by Washington is a sore spot for many Cubans, one which is decades-old and which Didion sees no clear resolution to. She highlights the cyclical nature of the Miami Cubans' plight and fight.