The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Key Details
- Genre: nonfiction
- Sub-Genres: memoir
- Publication Date: 2005
- Pages: 227
- Themes: grief, death, illness, marriage, parenting
- Accolades: National Book Award for Nonfiction and a finalist for both the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize
My Rating
The Year of Magical Thinking is one for which you need to be in the right headspace. After all, it’s about grief and other of life’s most difficult experiences. You also need an understanding that this isn’t a book about raw emotion. That’s not Didion’s style. It’s far more cerebral, which some readers will appreciate while others may struggle to grasp.
Gilmore Girls Episodes
| Season 6, Episode 15 (“A Vineyard Valentine”) | Rory reads The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion on Martha’s Vineyard. |
Famous Opening Line
“Life changes fast. Life changes in the instant. You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends. The question of self-pity.”
Book Review
Description
The Year of Magical Thinking explores the sudden death of Joan Didion’s husband, John Gregory Dunne.
It follows her psychological journey as she navigates mourning while caring for her critically ill daughter, Quintana Roo Dunne.
Why It Matters on Gilmore Girls
Rory’s reading of The Year of Magical Thinking, a very popular award-winning book at the time she read it, shows how engrossed her character is in current literary culture.
Who It’s Best For
The Year of Magical Thinking is best for anyone grieving or interested in grief and in the right headspace to read about it.
Reading Tips
- From Wikipedia: “The title of the book refers to magical thinking in the anthropological sense, thinking that if a person hopes for something enough or performs the correct actions, then an unavoidable event can be averted.”
- Check out a stage production. It was adapted into a play that premiered on Broadway in 2007 and starred Vanessa Redgrave.
Related Books to Read Next
If you liked The Year of Magical Thinking, read these books next:
