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6.21.2008

The Year of Magical Thinking

by Joan Didion

I had heard of Joan Didion, having read several of her essays in college. This book got a lot of press when it was released so I was looking forward to reading it. 
The book documents the year Didion's husband suddenly dies and her daughter falls severely ill (eventually dying as well). It's a horrific plot the reader can't help but wonder how they would survive. 
Didion handles it the way she tackles everything in her life -- with obsessive research and a quest for control. 
I can relate. 
It was heart-wrenching to read about her grief and madness, and the particular way she dealt with both, and very revealing to get inside someone's head during a time of life that will happen to us all. 
I'm not sure I can say I enjoyed the book, but I did learn from it. 

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I'm of a fearsome mind to throw my arms around every living librarian that crosses my path, on behalf of the souls they never knew they saved. 
                                                                           Barbara Kingsolver