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
Our July 15 "hike" is going to be a kayaking adventure on Bde Maka Ska (formerly Lake Calhoun) and Lake of the Isles! If you don't have a kayak (or paddleboard), Wheel Fun Rentals, located next to the new concession stand rents single kayaks at $15 an hour and double kayaks at $25. The second hour is free if we rent before noon. Life jackets are provided with the rental.
Laura Ericksen will lead the discussion of How Stella Learned to Talk by Christina Hunger, a true story by a speech-language pathologist who taught her dog, Stella, to communicate using buttons associated with different words.
Our August 5 hike will be a reprise of our hike last summer at William O'Brien State Park. This is a beautiful park with a winding trail and a great view of the countryside. The hike is about 5.5 to 6 miles and we'll go at a moderate pace with frequent water breaks. After the hike, we will eat lunch at Rustic Roots Winery, a half mile north of the park.
Kathy Cramer will lead the discussion of The Bookbinder by Pip Williams, a book set in 1914 Oxford chronicling the life of Peggy who works in the University bindery, but craves a life beyond binding books but to being a scholar herself.
Enjoy a two-hour cruise on the Jonathan Padelford, leaving from the Harriet Island dock in St. Paul, boarding time at 5:30 p.m. We will have a brief program on board by Patrick Nunnally from the River Life Program of the Institute on the Environment.
August 31 is the due date for annual reports and updates. Annual Reports, Toolkits, web page updates, operating document updates and archives collections are all due each year on this date.
Autumn is a wonderful season in Minnesota so plan to join UMRA at the Andersen Horticultural Library at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Kristen Mastel, head librarian and curator, will reveal its treasure trove of publications and artifacts relating to plant history, horticulture, and natural history. After the tour, those who are interested may stay to eat lunch together, sitting outside if the weather is nice. Later, you are invited to a one-hour tram tour of the entire Arboretum that includes natural areas of flowering shrubs, bogs, and forests, family garden and landscaping showpieces, and the red barn farm
After a summer break the UMRA Photo Club will next meet September 10, 2024 in the meeting room of the Hennepin County St. Anthony Branch Library. For those interested in lunch, meet at the Great Dragon at 11:30 am. For September the THEME will be Curves
We will continue to discuss the pros and cons of Medicare Advantage. You will also hear about notable non-health plan and non-broker resources.