Independence Day
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3.5 • 15 Ratings
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
"Steve Lopez is insightful, ingenious, and often hilarious as he navigates one of life's biggest questions." --Michael Connelly, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Dark Hours
Four-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and longtime Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez explores the meaning of work and how it defines us in this captivating book that combines memoir, investigatory interviews, and practical application.
Grappling with his own decision of whether to retire, Lopez uses his reporter skills not only to look inward but also to interview experts and peers to collect a variety of perspectives as he examines the true nature of a person’s time, identity, and ultimate life satisfaction.
In Independence Day, Lopez talks to those who have chosen to extend their working life to its (il)logical extreme--people like Mel Brooks, still working at 94--those who have happily retired and reinvented themselves outside of the constraints of work, and those who would like to retire but can't because of financial constraints. He also turns to professionals on the matter, like two aging scientists, a geriatric specialist, and a psychiatrist, to understand the research-based reasons to retire.
With his trademark poignancy, wisdom, and humor, Lopez establishes a useful polemic for himself and others in planning ahead, as he also evaluates questions of identity, financial limitations, and ultimately what to do with your life when the obituary pages are no longer filled with strangers.
Customer Reviews
Introspective but not too helpful
Steve Lopez’s book about his introspective journey to determine if he ready to retire or not is woven along with his youngest daughter’s departure for college. It is an interesting book that has only a few nuggets of practical advice. It is really a documentary of Steve’s journey of self discovery. He loves his job, works too many hours (even on vacation he spends time working), and draws a lot of his self worth from his occupation. He interviews several people about their thoughts on retirement, but it is not a balanced investigation. About 75% of the time, he talks to people who will never retire or regret doing so. It just becomes an echo chamber of his own point of view. There are parts of the book that pull at your heart strings, and others that are entertaining (interview with Mel Brooks and Father Boyle), but in the end, this book is all about the author and probably is not that applicable to most people considering retirement.
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