A meditation on aging for those who see the final years as an opportunity for personal development and joy.
Death isn’t the enemy in this carefully curated collection of essays, which paints the aging process as an opportunity for self-discovery, acceptance, and growth.
Although the 19 authors here acknowledge the physical and sometimes mental decline faced by seniors, the purpose of this volume is to share strategies for making the aging process—despite those challenges—“as pleasant and fulfilling as possible.” Contributors include a yoga instructor, hospice chaplain, attorney, and several therapists and psychologists. Their essays feature personal stories about picking a retirement home, crafting an ethical will, and navigating the health care system. Despite the varied topics, one refrain echoes throughout the book: seniors and their caregivers can’t control many aspects of the aging process, but they can choose the attitude with which they’ll approach their final years. In the words of one essayist: “aging people work with changes or are conquered by changes.” Although advice is offered, the book (first published in 2009, with a second edition released in 2015) eschews the simple directives found in many senior-living manuals. There are no checklists, no tips or tricks related to advance directives or medication management. Instead, the collection invites seniors to reflect on the days ahead and ponder avenues for purposeful living after retirement. “Aging can afford us time to explore the deeper values that have guided us in our lives,” writes one author. “Time to re-new, re-tool or re-fine our values and perhaps pass them along to others who follow.” Several of the writers cite Buddhist tenets in their pieces, yet adherence to that (or any) faith is not necessary to appreciate this common-sense approach to aging. A couple of the essays tiptoe dangerously close to navel-gazing territory, but the collection as a whole remains upbeat and accessible. Essays sprinkled with intimate anecdotes bring a long-deserved dose of humanity to a topic that’s all too often avoided or ignored.
A meditation on aging for those who see the final years as an opportunity for personal development and joy.Pub Date: May 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9894525-1-9
Page Count: 210
Publisher: Tonglen Press
Review Posted Online: July 29, 2015
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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