Blue Nights

Blue Nights is a sequel to The Year of Magical Thinking, this time describing the death of Joan Didion's 39-year-old daughter in 2005. The book is inferior to its predecessor, but it includes enough of her trademark observations to make it worthwhile:

In theory mementos serve to bring back the moment. In fact they serve only to make clear how inadequately I appreciated the moment when it was here. How inadequately I appreciated the moment when it was here is something else I could never afford to see.

Recommended.