Did I Say That Out Loud?
Midlife Indignities and How to Survive Them
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- USD 11.99
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- USD 11.99
Publisher Description
From the former editor-in-chief of Real Simple, enjoy this hilarious and deeply insightful take on the indignities of middle age and how to weather them with grace: "A pure pleasure to read" (Cathi Hanauer, author of Gone).
Do you hate the term “middle age?” So does Kristin van Ogtrop, who is still trying to come up with a less annoying way to describe those years when you find yourself both satisfied and outraged, confident and confused, full of appreciation but occasional disdain for the world around you. Like an intimate chat with your best friend, this mostly funny, sometimes sad, always affirming volume from longtime magazine journalist van Ogtrop is a celebration of that period of life when mild humiliations are significantly outweighed by a self-actualized triumph of the spirit. Finally!
Featuring stories from her own life, as well as anecdotes from her unwitting friends and family, van Ogtrop encourages you to laugh at the small irritations of midlife: neglectful children, stealth insomnia, forks that try to kill you, t.v. remotes that won’t find Netflix, abdominal muscles that can’t seem to get the job done. But also to acknowledge the things you may have lost: innocence, unbridled optimism, smooth skin. Dear friends. Parents. It’s all here: the sublime and the ridiculous, living together in the pages of this book as they do in your heart, like a big messy family, in this no-better-term-for-it middle age.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Van Ogtrop (Just Let Me Lie Down), former editor of Real Simple magazine, takes a humorous look at middle age in this insightful outing. Written "for the woman who has perhaps stopped caring about things," van Ogtrop's essays are eminently relatable, covering the dangers of eating a salad without glasses, the joys of a Roomba vacuum cleaner, and the struggles of insomnia. "I Can Smell My Pillow" is an entertaining take on hormones: "although a woman has fifty hormones in her body, estrogen is the president and right now everything is her fault." "The Shalom Ambulette, or How to Know if Your Career Is Over" covers van Ogtrop's professional achievements and the tremendous loss she felt after leaving her job, and "My Fratermily" is a funny take on the messiness of living with three sons. Nearly every topic is fair game—droopy breasts, losing friends, and trying to keep up with her children as they jump from Facebook to Twitter to Instagram (the author raises the white flag at Snapchat)—and van Ogtrop's tone is casual and welcoming. This thoughtful, quirky mix of meditations hits the spot.
