An Unfortunate Woman: A Journey is Richard Brautigan's eleventh and final published novel. Written in 1982, it was first published (posthumously) in 1994 in a French translation, "Cahier d'un Retour de Troie", . The first edition in English did not appear until 2000, when it was produced by St. Martins Press.
The story, set in 1982, is a series of diary entries by Brautigan about a woman named Nikki Arai who is suffering from cancer. Her best friend committed suicide and Arai suffers hard times after her best friend's suicide. After the death of her friend she tries to commit suicide numerous times. Eventually, Nikki decides not to take her own life and, in the end, dies from cancer.
Famous quotes containing the words unfortunate and/or journey:
“Should you be unfortunate enough to have vices, you may, to a certain degree, even dignify them by a strict observance of decorum; at least they will lose something of their natural turpitude.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)
“All the hills blush; I think that autumn must be the best season to journey over even the Green Mountains. You frequently exclaim to yourself, What red maples!”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)