Joan Didion is one of the most acclaimed authors of our time. Her long essays — in a form of journalistic meditation unique to her — are the envy of any nonfiction writer. She has not been a memoirist, until now. Her new book, The Year of Magical Thinking, nominated for this year’s National Book Award, is the harrowing story of the year following the death of her husband. Kurt talks with Didion about writing through her grief.