A friendly, warts-and-all aging handbook.
A humorous guide to the pleasures and irritations of growing older.
In their nonfiction collaboration, debut author Paskoff and Pack (Chronicles: The Library of Illumination, 2014, etc.) take a loving, detailed look at the many trials and challenges of old age, aiming their book specifically at an audience of people traveling the strange terrain that is life over the age of 60. The authors address dozens of aspects of growing older, including changes in basic physical capabilities as well as fear of dementia and other ailments of the aging population. The book gives readers clear, sensitive overviews of various phenomena that seniors might encounter, such as how to deal with changes in the body’s five senses or a diagnosis of heart disease. The authors don’t shy away from subjects that some may find delicate, such as the changing physical nature of senior sexuality or even alterations in what they call the human “waste disposal system,” presenting them simply in clear graphics with an often light tone. The book also deals with other complex topics, from the intricacies of grandparenting to the difficulties of modern technology. The number of Americans over 60 is projected to double from 40 million to 80 million by midcentury, and the authors clearly want to reassure readers in or approaching that age group. One of the book’s most insightful segments deals with the psychological effects of aging, when it begins to change elements of day-to-day life: “Gone are the days when we see our reflection in the mirror and like what we see,” the authors write. “Now, we sometimes get depressed.” There’s also valuable advice on financial matters, particularly the increasing likelihood of outliving one’s retirement savings, and on writing a personal memoir (“You don’t have to be flowery or elegant. You just have to tell it like it was”). Many seniors will find this a must-read.
A friendly, warts-and-all aging handbook.Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-9979084-9-7
Page Count: -
Publisher: Artiqua Press
Review Posted Online: July 10, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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