This book just about killed me. Major weepies. Every so often Barry would look up, see me peering mistily into the book and ask, "Did the dog die?" Most of you would find this crass and somewhat harsh, but it was usually exactly what I needed to get me back on track, meaning, away from feeling like the whole world was ending.

I've only read a few things by Joan Didion, and yes, I did enjoy them. But it was wierd, to read this book, her life laid bare for the course of the first year after her husband's death. I couldn't help remembering how I felt after my grandma's death--- all of it. She was there, and then she wasn't. The vortex still gets me, usually at the oddest times. My grandmother was closer to me than my own mother, and there are days when I hope that I die before my husband, because I could not go through that again.

All in all it was a beautiful read.

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