A review by mackenziewrites
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

3.0

 I picked up this book because I had just finished binge-watching Gossip Girl (which I started thanks to a bad case of RSV). One of the main characters, an aspiring writer, Dan, incessantly brings up Joan Didion as the greatest writer of our time. As someone who had never read any Joan Didion but is also an aspiring author, I had to see what the hype was about. When I saw this on display at my local library, I decided to try it out. 

 

Unprepared is an understatement. In this memoir, Didion recounts losing her husband and grappling with her daughter’s sudden, inexplicable, and life-threatening illnesses. She takes us on a journey as she notes the strange things that grief makes us remember, do, and feel. 

 

However, she does this using a stream-of-consciousness writing style that likely will leave readers confused. Who are we talking about? What time period are we in? Where in the world are we right now? She jumps from New York to California to Hawaii and back more times than I could keep track of. There is a lot of name-dropping that doesn’t seem necessary to me, but who am I but an uncultured member of the proletariat, it seems? (The elitism in the book can be quite nauseating at times). 

 

For someone searching for a relatable book on grief, this might be a total win. For the average reader, this is a tough one to get through. But if you’re committed, you will learn about the gut-wrenching unfairness of life and just how quickly we can lose everything for no apparent reason. 

 

**Potential Spoilers** - Didion has since passed away and I did some further research on her and her daughter after this book was published and the story just gets worse.