What is the author's style in The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion?

The author's perspective is that of someone living what she's writing about. This makes the book almost journal-like in its approach, with its stream of consciousness narrative style at times becoming difficult to follow and at other times being profoundly evocative of the state of emotional/mental dislocation experienced by those living through grief-inspiring loss. Her background as a writer gives her both a considerable advantage and a certain credibility problem. Because she is gifted and experienced, and on some level trained in searching for meaning in ways that other non-artistically inclined individuals might not be able to do, the author is able to see possibilities for meaning in the apparently meaningless, and therefore at least potentially find comfort. On the debit side, because she tells stories for a living, and because from all accounts she has a considerable professional reputation for doing it well, a reader might be justified in wondering how much of her apparent stream-of-consciousness writing is as much a product of raw memory and/or experience and how much is a product of skill and technique. All that said, however, the overall impact of the book on a reader is likely to be both thought-provoking and moving, with readers who have on some level shared her experience of grief and loss probably being the core of that intended audience and the readers most likely able to truly identify with the author's story.