Simple Stories

Yesterday, or was it the day before, I heard Susan Stamberg interview Joan Didion about her latest book, The Year of Magical Thinking. I've not read any of Didion's work, nor do I recall reading anything written by her late husband, John Gregory Dunne.

I was intrigued hearing Didion reading a few lines from her book, so I decided to check the NPR website to read a bit more. Didion's book is about her life during the year after her husband of forty years suffered a massive heart attack at their dining table and died. I've only read the excerpt, but it alone was enough to make me think, "this is an excellent book...I have to read it." It's not the topic that intrigued me, it's the idea of hearing, first hand, how a person dealt with an immense personal trauma...a trauma like all of us will face at one time or another.

What I find compelling about Joan Didion's story (the little bit I've read) is the detail, and the acknowledgement of missed detail, of dealing with this personal trauma. It's a personal story, a simple story about a simple but horrible event, that, told properly, can interest the reader and draw the reader into the author's life.

I thought, after reading the excerpt from Didion's book, that I should write about my experience of having troubling chest pains, visiting a doctor, and then finding myself rushing into a fairly major surgery that would change my life in some significant ways. My experience was nothing if not commonplace...but where are the stories about such commonplace experiences that can help others who have not had them truly understand them?

I've always been told, and have read many times, "write what you know." While I don't always buy that admonition, I think it can't hurt from time to time. So, before long, I'll write about my own experiences. And I'll read The Year of Magical Thinking.