Counterclockwise
My Year of Hypnosis, Hormones, Dark Chocolate, and Other Adventures in the World of Anti-Aging
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
At this moment, one in three Americans is entering midlife, and many are wondering, "How did I get to be this old?" Plenty will turn to miracle creams, injections, fillers, and surgery to reverse the hands of time, but Kessler investigates the largely unexplored side of anti-aging: what it takes to be younger, not just look younger. Guided by an open but pleasantly skeptical mind, a thirst for adventure, and a sense of humor, she investigates America's youth obsession and decides, on a very personal level, what to do about it. She is at once the careful reporter, the immersion journalist, the self-designated lab rat, and a midlife woman who is not interested in being as old as her driver's license insists she is.
Counterclockwise is a lively quest to discover how to maintain stamina, vitality, fortitude, and creativity right to the very end.
"The human smile is an anti-gravity device. Kessler's delightful, witty book actually takes 20 yearsoff your face!"—Mary Roach, author of Stiff and Gulp
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Kessler (My Teenage Werewolf), director of the University of Oregon's multimedia narrative journalism graduate program, takes on the marketing, (sometimes pseudo-) science, and the psychology of the anti-aging industry in this funny personal tale. Game to explore every possible manner of aging gracefully, she interviews plastic surgeons and research scientists, attends conferences, has her mitochondria and telomeres tested, downs supplements and "superfoods," takes online self-assessments, and tries new diet and exercise plans. It should be noted, however, that Kessler didn't have many obstacles other than a ticking clock to overcome: she isn't ill or obese; she's just a typical middle-aged American woman in decent shape who would like to do a little better at achieving "compression of morbidity," i.e. not necessarily living longer, but living better. In the end, she sidesteps the most extreme solutions, and the successful results of the metabolic tests she takes after a year of exploration reveal that the best options we have for slowing our biological clocks are avoiding stress, eating healthy, and exercising. Unsurprising, sure, but her journey through the temptations of quick-fix anti-aging options treats the fountain-of-youth seeking side of us with humor and compassion.
