Joan Didion’s daughter, Quintana Roo Dunne, married and her husband was Gerry Michael. Gerry was mentioned on page 29.

“I could not call Quintana (she was still. where we had left her a few hours before, unconscious in the ICU at Beth Israel North) But I could call Gerry, her husband of five months, and I could call my brother, Jim, who would be at his house in Pebble Beach.”

(Didion, p. 29)

Didion explained that she was going through a year of magical thinking, that John would. return, even after his death. She had difficulty donating his shoes away because she had a nagging feeling that he would need them when he came back.

It is common for mourners to have difficulty accepting the death. They think that there could be a miracle, or some event, to explain the mistake.

This is my copy of the book.

Amazon sells this:

Related post:

I have read another of Joan Didion’s essay book, The White Album, whose review is here – https://booksreviewsandmore.com/the-white-album-by-joan-didion/