The Year of Magical Thinking is Joan Didion's account of the year following the death of her husband, the writer John Gregory Dunne. The book shows how she attempts to deal with the grief of her husband's death while caring for the serious illness of her daughter, Quintana. In the book Didion does something that might seem abnormal to some people. While Didion is cleaning out her husband's closet at work, she can't find herself throwing away her husband's shoes because “he would need shoes if he were to come back” (Didion). Joan Didion's reactions to death are quintessentially American because of the way people in America fail to deal with death and refuse to accept the idea that their loved one is dead while other cultures are unable to accept the idea of death because their loved ones are not gone but still here with them. Joan Didion's reaction to her husband's death is quintessentially American because of her inability to deal with her husband's death. “[She] still got up in the morning and sent out the laundry. [She] would still plan a menu for Easter lunch. [She] would...