Book notes | The Year of Magical Thinking
The UMRA Book Club I discussed The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion at its March 2021 meeting. It is considered a classic book about mourning. It won the 2005 National Book Award for Nonfiction and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography.
In the book, Didion describes her experiences with grief after the death of her husband, John Gregory Dunne, in 2003. Shortly before his death, their daughter, Quintana Roo, was hospitalized in New York with pneumonia that developed into septic shock. She was in a coma when her father died. During 2004, Quintana was again hospitalized after she hit her head getting off a plane in California.
The book describes Didion's reliving and reanalysis of her husband's death throughout the year following it, in addition to taking care of Quintana. The author also includes medical and psychological research on grief and illness into the book.
Magical thinking
The title of the book refers to magical thinking in the anthropological sense, i.e. thinking that if a person hopes for something enough or performs the right actions that an inevitable event can be avoided. The author reports several instances of her own magical thinking, such as a story in which she can’t give away her husband’s shoes because he would need them when he returned.
The author applies a reporter’s detachment, for which she is famous, to her own experience of grieving. Through observation and analysis of changes in her own behavior and abilities, Didion indirectly expresses her grief. She is troubled by questions about the medical details of her husband's death, the possibility that he intuited it in advance, and how she might have made his remaining time more meaningful. Her daughter's continuing medical problems and hospitalizations further complicate the course of Didion’s grief.
Most of the UMRA Book Club group liked the book and the writing. There were several comments on Didion’s intellectual approach to grief, the interesting research findings she presented, and her obvious privileged position in life. A few members had difficulty reading the book because of personal experiences with loss, or they found the writing scattered and fragmented.
—Diane Madlon-Kay, Book Club I member
UMRA Book Club I to meet March 19
Fri, Mar 19 2021, 2pm
Diane Madlon-Kay will lead the discussion of The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion when UMRA's Book Club I meets via Zoom at 2 p.m. on Friday, March.
Book Club I currently has 16 members, a number that works well for our discussions. Contact Pat Tollefson at [email protected] for more information, including suggestions for starting a new book club.
Upcoming Events
If you currently live in your own home or apartment, have you looked ahead to when you might want to consider a senior living option? Do you have any idea what those options might be? How much they cost? What they provide? UMRA’s May 14 workshop will provide an overview of the world of senior living and the basic information you need.
You’re invited to join the final Family History Interest Group meeting for 2023–24. This will be an opportunity to ask questions related to family history, share insights, talk about recent projects, and suggest topics for next year.
Stephanie Daily will lead the discussion of Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by best-selling author Mary Roach when the UMRA Book Club meets via Zoom at 2 p.m. on Friday, May 17.
The May 20 hike will start at the Historic Lift Bridge in Stillwater and go along the river to the new bridge, cross over and then back on the Wisconsin side, a total of approximately 5 miles. Most of the route is paved. We will eat lunch after at Brian's Bar and Grill in Stillwater. Car pooling will be available.
Climatologist and meteorologist Mark Seeley joined the U of M faculty in 1978 and has been a weekly commentator on Minnesota Public Radio since 1992. We are honored to welcome him as our guest speaker for UMRA’s May Luncheon Forum and 2024 Annual Meeting. He is always entertaining and informative.
UMRA’s Fourth Friday Book Club welcomes back, for the second time, author Julie Schumacher, U of M Regents professor of creative writing and English, for a conversation about her novel The Shakespeare Requirement.
We are in for a treat on June 3! Lynn Anderson, will lead us on trails at two parks near her Monticello home. Bring a bag lunch and we will gather in Lynn's yard along the Mississippi River for eating and socializing after the hike.
Get out to the ballpark with fellow UMRA members for the annual U of M Day at Target Field as the Minnesota Twins take on the Oakland Athletics on June 14 at 7:10 p.m.
Please join us at 9:30 on June 17, 2024 for a walk around Lake Como in St. Paul before attending the UMRA Summer Social and Picnic starting at 11 at the Como Pavilion. A perfect opportunity to get in a walk before we gather to celebrate summer.
Picnic under the covered, open-air Como pavilion, gaze at the water, spy some birds, catch up with friends and former colleagues, and meet new members. We’ll have lunch with plenty of time for visiting and then compete in teams as we are challenged by our Quiz master(s)!
Healthy aging, mindfulness, fighting ageism, and more will be the focus of the third annual Age-Friendly University Day to be held on the U of M Twin Cities campus.