Joan Didion

The Year of Magical Thinking

1. IDEA 1

   Life changed in an instant

   Didion describes how her husband, the writer John Gregory Dunne, collapsed and died at their dinner table in 2003. At the same time, their daughter Quintana was seriously ill in hospital, and Didion faced grief and fear together.

2. IDEA 2

   Grief is different from expected

   Didion observes that grief is not what she expected. It comes in waves and disrupts the mind and body. Didion shows that grief can feel confusing and unpredictable, very unlike the tidy picture many of us expect.

3. IDEA 3

   Magical thinking resists reality

   Didion describes magical thinking, irrational beliefs that her husband might return. She could not give away his shoes because he might need them. Didion shows how the mind can hold on to hope even when it knows the facts.

All 8 ideas from The Year of Magical Thinking →