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:
“At the door of every happy person there should be a man with a hammer whose knock would serve as a constant reminder of the existence of unfortunate people.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)
“So every journey that I make
Leads me, as in the story he was led,
To some new ambush, to some fresh mistake:
So every journey I begin foretells
A weariness of daybreak, spread
With carrion kisses, carrion farewells.”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)