The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion is a memoir that speaks to me. I've lived this way more than once in my life, and I swear there are worse ways to live. Sometimes I think a total retreat from reality would be much preferable to the reality I've suffered at times. I first heard about this book on NPR and picked it up soon after, but it was years before I could bring myself to read it. When I read about her life, I wonder how I can be so desperately unhappy in my own. She's had much tragedy to deal with.
from the back of the book:
From one of America's iconic writers, a stunning book of electric honesty and passion. Joan Didion explores an intensely personal yet universal experience: a portrait of a marriage - and a life, in good times and bad - that will speak to anyone who has ever loved a husband or wife or child.
It opens:
Life changes fast.
Life changes in the instant.
You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends.
The NYT has a glowing review, as does EW. Slate calls it extraordinary. In fact, I haven't seen a single negative review.
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