The Year of Magical Thinking

By: Joan Didion

Narrated by: Barbara Caruso

Length: 5 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

National Book Award, Nonfiction, 2005

"Life changes fast....You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends." These were among the first words Joan Didion wrote in January 2004. Her daughter was lying unconscious in an intensive care unit, a victim of pneumonia and septic shock. Her husband, John Gregory Dunne, was dead. The night before New Year's Eve, while they were sitting down to dinner, he suffered a massive and fatal coronary. The two had lived and worked side by side for nearly 40 years.

The weeks and months that followed "cut loose any fixed idea I had about death, about illness, about probability and luck...about marriage and children and memory...about the shallowness of sanity, about life itself."

In The Year of Magical Thinking, Didion explores with electric honesty and passion a private yet universal experience. Her portrait of a marriage, and a life, in good times and bad, will speak directly to anyone who has ever loved a husband, a wife, or a child.

Listen to Joan Didion's full-hour interview with Charlie Rose.

©2005 Joan Didion (P)2005 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

• 2005 Audie Award Nominee, Biography/Memoir
• National Book Critics Circle Award Nominee, Autobiography, 2005

"Many will greet this taut, clear-eyed memoir of grief as a long-awaited return to the terrain of Didion's venerated, increasingly rare personal essays....This is an indispensable addition to Didion's body of work and a lyrical, disciplined entry in the annals of mourning literature." (Publishers Weekly)
"The Year of Magical Thinking is not a downer. On the contrary. Though the material is literally terrible, the writing is exhilarating and what unfolds resembles an adventure narrative." (The New York Times)

Powerful and deeply personal account of grief

This is such a wonderfully written and deeply emotional story about losing someone you love deeply. It’s a wonderful testament to how someone can process grief.

lovely and helpful

having lost loved ones over the past few years I could relate to much of what Joan Didion described as she went through the grieving and mourning process. I encourage anyone who has lost a loved one to read this.

A Good Story of a Torturous Year

Although the amount of entitlement and luxury this group of characters enjoys is completely off putting at times, the story is a solid one, and aptly told.
I'm glad I read it, and would recommend it to others.

Death simply... is.

A heartbreaking account of the death of a partner. Grief is healthy, but not easy.

Stark honest and accurate account of love lost

Her brutal honesty and heartfelt in-depth ability to express what it is really like to lose a spouse
As a recent widower myself, I can attest to the fact that this is so far the best account I’ve been exposed to that really shows what it’s like

Loved the writing, wish the performance matched

This is one of the most unique books on grief that I’ve encountered. Didion’s factual and somewhat emotionally removed approach to conveying her process with grief was really powerful, even if it was horrifying at times and doesn’t end on an uplifting note. It exemplifies how people grieve differently and brings something new to the table in the process.
My only complaint is with the narration. The pacing felt off and rushed in places, and the whole delivery felt a bit too monotone. I almost stopped in the first two chapters because of how hard it was to focus on the story as a result.

Possibly her best

I’m not sure why this isn’t as popular as her others. She expertly sails through the mundane to the profound only to land safely back to the mundane. As usual.

Not sure where to go with this and the grief life brings.

After losing my brother, a friend sent me this book. Grief has been overwhelming and taking over my every thought. I do t know where to go with it and it seems to me not does anyone else who has lost a great love. Thoughts flow in and out of one’s mind and reliving the death of a loved one is painful, confusing and difficult. But it seems to be normal. I don’t know if I would recommend this to anyone because I am finding we all have to figure this out by just going through it.

Beautiful

Beautifully written and performed. This was my first Joan Didion novel and I loved it. Can’t wait to read more of her works!

Excellent!

Fascinating trip into Joan Didion’s stream of consciousness, but what a terribly sad time she had.