--- description: Find out why Obit by Victoria Chang is on TIME's list of the must-read books from this year. title: 'Obit' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2020 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt65b50be043b310be/698a140b22fb857878e2b9c1/best-books-2020-Obit.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 09, 2020 # Obit by Victoria Chang by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  When you lose someone you love, the world doesn’t stop to let you mourn. Nor does it allow you to linger as you learn to live with a gaping hole in your heart. Indeed, this daily indifference to being left behind epitomizes the unique pain of grieving. Victoria Chang captures this visceral, heart-stopping ache in _Obit_, the book of poetry she wrote after the death of her mother. Although Chang initially balked at writing an obituary, she soon found herself writing eulogies for the small losses that preceded and followed her mother’s death, each one an ode to her mother’s life and influence. Chang also thoughtfully examines how she will be remembered by her own children in time. **Buy Now:** _Obit_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9781556595745 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1556595743/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time-books-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1556595743&linkId=306370554c8ada433f0c1b3b010efaedd "undefined") These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5904312/obit/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5904312/obit/"},"headline":"'Obit' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2020","datePublished":"2020-11-09T20:11:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:44:42.139Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5904312/obit/","keywords":["E-Commerce","Books","list"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt65b50be043b310be/698a140b22fb857878e2b9c1/best-books-2020-Obit.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt65b50be043b310be/698a140b22fb857878e2b9c1/best-books-2020-Obit.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5904312/obit/","name":"'Obit' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2020"}}]}] ```