For Didion fans, this deeply personal chronicle of her immersion in grief is a must travel, road full of diamonds. Even as she doubts her powers, she brings fully to bear the intense scrutiny, relentless pursuit of the truth and candid irony that we've come to recognize as her signature to author an important addition to the discourse on death and loss. It's an emotional ride – I teared up nearly every time I picked up the book – that will summon and engage each reader's unique experience with trauma and mortality.
Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3554.I33 Z63 2005
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Chris Rynd, Senior Writer, University Advancement
Rating: Recommended
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2 comments:
I'd recommend this book too, especially if you've read Didion before and felt lukewarm about her approach. Sometimes, I find her writing oddly distanced or elitist, while in other pieces, she hits the mark for me. This book captured the way we construct the story of a loved one's death.
I'm currently reading this book, and finding it EXTREMELY difficult to empathize with the tragedy endured by Didion -this is because she CANNOT get through a chapter without an elitist name-drop or gratuitous boast about how successful and culturally powerful she and her husband are. Perhaps this is a means of self-soothing for her, but this Tourettes-like tendency is an unwelcome distraction and, frankly, a turn-off. The loss of a loved one is a universal experience; shuttling to L.A. on a private jet is not. And the latter detracts from the former, for me.
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