A Week of Apocalyptic Thinking
About two weeks ago, the New York Times Sunday magazine printed an excerpt from Joan Didion's new book, The Year of Magical Thinking, which recounts the sudden death of her husband while her adopted daughter lay comatose in a hospital bed from septic shock. Perhaps I read the piece at a vulnerable time, but it moved me like nothing I've read in ages. It captures that most obvious truth, the fragility of life, in a way that does not let you shove your head back in the sand. Her prose pierces through the defenses of denial so effectively that even John Leonard, in this week's New York Review of Books, can barely contain himself. So, will somebody read the book and tell me if I can handle it? I'm an awfully fragile bitch.