The Year of Magical Thinking: Study Guide

The Year of Magical Thinking is a memoir Joan Didion that was first published in 2005.

Summary

Read a Plot Overview of the entire book or a chapter by chapter Summary and Analysis.

Plot Overview

Summary and Analysis
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapters 3 and 4
Chapters 5 and 6
Chapters 7 and 8
Chapter 9 and 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapters 13 and 14
Chapters 15 and 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapters 19–21
Chapter 22

Characters

See a complete list of the characters in The Year of Magical Thinking and in-depth analyses of Joan Didion, John Gregory Dunne, and Quintana Roo Dunne.

Character List
Joan Didion
John Gregory Dunne
Quintana Roo Dunne

Main Ideas

Here's where you'll find analysis about the book as a whole.

Themes
Motifs
Symbols
Key Facts

Quotes

Find the quotes you need to support your essay, or refresh your memory of the book by reading these key quotes.

Important Quotes Explained

Further Study

Continue your study of The Year of Magical Thinking with these useful links.

Context
Full Book Quiz

Section Quizzes

Study Questions
Suggestions for Further Reading

Writing Help

Get ready to write your essay on The Year of Magical Thinking.

How to Write Literary Analysis
Essay Topics
How to Cite This SparkNote

The Year of Magical Thinking

Summary

Summary and Analysis

Characters

Main Ideas

Quotes

Further Study

Section Quizzes

Writing Help

Take a Study Break

Every Shakespeare Play Summed Up in a Quote from The Office

QUIZ: Are You Living in a Literary Dystopia?

QUIZ: Can You Guess the Book from a Bad One-Sentence Summary?

Pick 10 Books and We'll Guess Whether You're an Introvert or an Extrovert

Every Scene of Hamlet Summed Up in a Single Sentence

Every Book on Your English Syllabus, Summed Up in Marvel Quotes

Literary Characters Summed Up in Quotes from The Office