Independence Day
What I Learned About Retirement from Some Who’ve Done It and Some Who Never Will
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3.7 • 37 Ratings
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- $10.99
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
If you’re trying to determine…
…your own Independence Day…this is one man’s story. And it is an enjoyable one. He answers some questions that need to be asked by everyone considering retirement, and provides not direct answers, but insights into what to consider for one’s own retirement. He weaves his own journey into the story, and this makes for an easy and thoughtful read.
Independence Day
Lots of food for thought. Daughter seemed very cold.
Poor view of retirement
The sad story of a helicopter parent who has no real life or ambition outside of his job. And he looks for friends to tell him it is fine for your job to be your whole life’s meaning.