The Year of Magical Thinking
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| The Year of Magical Thinking | |
| Author | Joan Didion |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Memoir |
| Publisher | Knopf |
| Publication date | 2005 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 240 pp (Knopf hardcover edition) |
| ISBN | ISBN 1-4000-4314-X (Knopf hardcover edition) |
The Year of Magical Thinking (2005), by Joan Didion (b. 1934), is an account of the year following the death of the author's husband John Gregory Dunne (1932-2003). Published by Knopf in October 2005, the book was immediately acclaimed as a classic in the genre of mourning literature. It won the National Book Award in November 2005 and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award[1] as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Biography/Autobiography.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Structure and themes
The book recounts Didion's experiences of grief after Dunne's 2003 death of a cardiac arrest in their New York apartment. Days before his death their daughter Quintana Roo Dunne Michael was hospitalised in New York with pneumonia which developed into septic shock and was still unconsious when her father died. During 2004 Dunne Michael was hospitalised again after a collapse and bleed into her brain.
The narrative structure of the book follows Didion's re-living and re-analysis of her husband's death throughout the year following it, in addition to caring for Dunne Michael. With each replay of the event, the focus on certain emotional and physical aspects of the experience shifts. Didion also incorporates medical and psychological research on grief and illness into the book.
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 right actions that an unavoidable event can be averted. Didion reports many instances of her own magical thinking, particularly the story in which if she cannot give away Dunne's shoes, as he would need them when he returned.[3] The experience of insanity or derangement that is part of grief is a major theme, one that Didion was unable to find a great deal of existing literature about.[4]
Didion applies the iconic reportorial detachment for which she is known to her own experience of grieving; there are few expressions of raw emotion. Through observation and analysis of changes in her own behavior and abilities, she indirectly expresses the toll her grief is taking. She is haunted by questions concerning the medical details of her husband's death, the possibility that he sensed it in advance, and how she might have made his remaining time more meaningful. Fleeting memories of events and persistent snippets of past conversations with John take on a new significance. Her daughter's continuing health problems and hospitalizations further compound and interrupt the natural course of grief.
[edit] Writing process
Didion wrote The Year of Magical Thinking between October 4, 2004 and December 31 the same year, completing it a year and a day after Dunne died.[5] Notes she made during Dunne Michael's hospitalisations became part of the book. [6] Dunne Michael died of pancreatitis on August 26, 2005 prior to the publication of the book, but Didion told the press that she would not revise the manuscript.[7]
[edit] The Play
On March 29th, 2007, Didion's adaptation of her book for Broadway, directed by David Hare, opened with Vanessa Redgrave as the sole cast member. The play expands upon the memoir by dealing with Dunne Michael's death. [8] The play was also performed in the Sydney Theatre Company's 2008 season, starring Robyn Nevin and directed by Cate Blanchett.[9]
[edit] References and notes
- ^ All Past National Book Critics Circle Award Winners and Finalists. National Book Critics Circle. Retrieved on 2007-04-26.
- ^ The Pulitzer Prizes. The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved on 2007-05-31.
- ^ Feeney, Mark. "Amid unbearable sorrow, she shows her might", The Boston Globe, 2005-10-26. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
- ^ Van Meter, Jonathan. "When Everything Changes", New York Books, 2005-10-02. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
- ^ O'Hagan, Sean. "The years of writing magically", The Guardian, 2006-08-20. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
- ^ Brockes, Emma. "Q: How were you able to keep writing after the death of your husband? A: There was nothing else to do. I had to write my way out of it", The Guardian, 2005-12-16. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
- ^ McKinley, Jesse. "Joan Didion's New Book Faces Tragedy", The New York Times, 2005-08-29. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
- ^ "Vanessa Redgrave and Joan Didion, Working on a Merger", The New York Times, 2006-05-26. Retrieved on 2007-04-26.
- ^ Hallett, Bryce. "Theatre's dream team keeps Nevin in the act", The Sydney Morning Herald, 2007-09-08. Retrieved on 2007-09-16.
[edit] External links
- Audio interview with Joan Didion by Kurt Anderson (2005). Studio 360. March 2, 2007.
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