The Year of Magical Thinking 3195586 218141874 2008-06-09T10:07:15Z Thayvian 123849 /* Writing process */ {{Infobox Book | name = The Year of Magical Thinking | title_orig = | translator = | image = <!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Didion-Year.jpg|200px|]] --> | image_caption = 2005 Knopf cover | author = [[Joan Didion]] | illustrator = | cover_artist = | country = [[United States]] | language = [[English language|English]] | series = | genre = [[Memoir]] | publisher = [[Knopf]] | release_date = [[2005 in literature|2005]] | media_type = Print ([[Hardcover|Hardback]] & [[Paperback]]) | pages = 240 pp (Knopf hardcover edition) | isbn = ISBN 1-4000-4314-X (Knopf hardcover edition) | preceded_by = | followed_by = }}'''''The Year of Magical Thinking''''' ([[2005 in literature|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]]<ref>{{Cite web| url = http://www.bookcritics.org/?go=pastAwards | work = National Book Critics Circle | title = All Past National Book Critics Circle Award Winners and Finalists | accessdate = 2007-04-26}}</ref> as well as the [[Pulitzer Prize]] for Biography/Autobiography.<ref>{{Cite web| url = http://www.pulitzer.org/ | work = The Pulitzer Prizes | title = The Pulitzer Prizes | accessdate = 2007-05-31}}</ref> == 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 [[bleeding|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.<ref>{{cite news |last=Feeney |first=Mark |url=http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2005/10/26/amid_unbearable_sorrow_she_shows_her_might/ |title=Amid unbearable sorrow, she shows her might |date=2005-10-26 |accessdate=2008-06-09 |work=[[The Boston Globe]]}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |last=Van Meter |first=Jonathan |title=When Everything Changes |url=http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/books/14633/ |date=2005-10-02 |accessdate=2008-06-09 |work=[[New York Books]] }}</ref> 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. == 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.<ref>{{cite news | last = O'Hagan | first = Sean | title = The years of writing magically | url = http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/biography/story/0,,1854009,00.html | date= 2006-08-20 | accessdate=2008-06-09 | work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> Notes she made during Dunne Michael's hospitalisations became part of the book. <ref>{{cite news| last=Brockes |first=Emma |title=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 |url=http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/biography/0,,1668939,00.html |date=2005-12-16 |accessdate=2008-06-09 |work=[[The Guardian]]}} </ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |last = McKinley |first = Jesse |title=Joan Didion's New Book Faces Tragedy |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/29/books/29didi.html?_r=1&oref=slogin |date=2005-08-29 |accessdate=2008-06-09 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> ==The Play== On [[March 29th]], 2007, Didion's adaptation of her book for [[Broadway theatre|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. <ref>{{Cite news | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/26/theater/26didi.html?ex=1177732800&en=d2a5a1c9da9f0f2d&ei=5070 | title = Vanessa Redgrave and Joan Didion, Working on a Merger | work = [[The New York Times]] | date = 2006-05-26 | accessdate = 2007-04-26}}</ref> The play was also performed in the [[Sydney Theatre Company]]'s 2008 season, starring [[Robyn Nevin]] and directed by [[Cate Blanchett]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Hallett|first=Bryce|title=Theatre's dream team keeps Nevin in the act|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/arts/theatres-dream-team-keeps-nevin-in-the-act/2007/09/07/1188783493335.html|date=2007-09-08|accessdate=2007-09-16|publisher=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]}}</ref> ==References and notes== {{reflist}} ==External links== * [http://www.studio360.org/episodes/2007/03/02 Audio interview with Joan Didion by Kurt Anderson (2005)]. ''[[Studio 360]]''. March 2, 2007. {{Joan Didion}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Year of Magical Thinking, The}} [[Category:2005 books]] [[Category:Autobiographies]] [[Category:Books by Joan Didion]] {{bio-book-stub}}