Old Age
A Beginner's Guide
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3.4 • 45 Ratings
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
Vanity Fair columnist Michael Kinsley escorts his fellow Boomers through the door marked "Exit."
The notorious baby boomers—the largest age cohort in history—are approaching the end and starting to plan their final moves in the game of life. Now they are asking: What was that all about? Was it about acquiring things or changing the world? Was it about keeping all your marbles? Or is the only thing that counts after you’re gone the reputation you leave behind?
In this series of essays, Michael Kinsley uses his own battle with Parkinson’s disease to unearth answers to questions we are all at some time forced to confront. “Sometimes,” he writes, “I feel like a scout from my generation, sent out ahead to experience in my fifties what even the healthiest Boomers are going to experience in their sixties, seventies, or eighties.”
This surprisingly cheerful book is at once a fresh assessment of a generation and a frequently funny account of one man’s journey toward the finish line. “The least misfortune can do to make up for itself is to be interesting,” he writes. “Parkinson’s disease has fulfilled that obligation.”
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this collection of eight essays, Kinsley (Please Don't Remain Calm), a columnist at Vanity Fair, a New Yorker contributor, and the founder of Slate, proposes somewhat facetiously that life is a game in which all of us are in competition. As such, he asks, what does it mean to "win" at life? Does it pay off to have the most possessions, live the longest, or be remembered best? Kinsley doesn't really present an answer, but it's enjoyable to follow his train of thought. The focus is ultimately on coming to terms with the final chapter of life, which, in Kinsley's case, means coming to terms with being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Throughout, Kinsley showcases his fine writing, tackling a potentially depressing subject with a mixture of humor and serious reflection. Though targeted most specifically to Kinsley's own generation of the baby boomers, the book might be helpful for anyone who has a progressive illness. Readers are almost forced to accept the premise of life as competition, as it appears time and again throughout, and some may find this disconcerting. However, Kinsley's superb prose and well-judged tone both frustrated and hopeful for the future make this a valuable book for anyone interested in exploring ideas around life, death, and legacy.
Customer Reviews
I would not recommend this one
In the sample the author wrote that this book was not about Parkinsons Disease. I found that not to be the case. It read to me like a book that was prompted by the authors diagnosis and the responses to his diagnosis from colleagues and friends. I did not see it as a helpful book about aging. I would not recommend it.
Old Age A Beginners Guide
Falsely promoted as a memoir about his illness. The last several chapters are devoted to condemning the "Baby Boomers" and pushing his socialist agenda-very dishonest. Would not recommend to anyone.
A total scam
More about politics than old age. Lost time...at an age when you don't have to much of it.