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

2.0

I was very curious about Didion because of her recent resurgence in popularity, so I decided to give this a listen in it’s audiobook form.  What I found was a shallow meditation on grief that dances around meaning instead of delving into an honest and vulnerable introspective. I suppose that is in line with her concept of “magical thinking.” I couldn’t help but contrast this with Crying in H Mart, which was such a moving and relatable memoir about grief that rung true and honest to me. Makes me think that the recent obsession with Didion is more about aspirational aesthetics than anything else. I would never recommend this to someone experiencing grief. Maybe her fiction is better, I’ll have to still give it a try.