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Something in our world is changing. In ten years time 60% of us will be over 55. The retirement age is likely to move up to 70; modern medicine ensures that most of us will live well in to our 80s and most of us will choose to do some work, paid or voluntary, while we are still physically able. Yet older people have, as yet, no role in modern society. Old age is regarded as an invonvenience, something to be shunned and set apart from our daily lives.
In this frank, often funny and always compelling disquisition on ageing, Irma Kurtz sets out to chart the territory through her own and others’ experiences. Along the way she meets a diverse group of people whose insights into their own lives have much to offer a younger generation – from a 90-year-old weekly columnist and a vicar still working in his mid-70s to The Good Granny Guide‘s Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall and ‘London’s Rudest Landlord’, Normal Balon of the celebrated Coach and Horses. Kurtz is a fearless investigator of the art of growing old – its pleasures and its griefs – carrying with her the only tool that sharpens with age: lifelong curiosity.
In this frank, often funny and always compelling disquisition on ageing, Irma Kurtz sets out to chart the territory through her own and others’ experiences. Along the way she meets a diverse group of people whose insights into their own lives have much to offer a younger generation – from a 90-year-old weekly columnist and a vicar still working in his mid-70s to The Good Granny Guide‘s Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall and ‘London’s Rudest Landlord’, Normal Balon of the celebrated Coach and Horses. Kurtz is a fearless investigator of the art of growing old – its pleasures and its griefs – carrying with her the only tool that sharpens with age: lifelong curiosity.
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Reviews
'Irma Kurtz, a veteran journalist, writer and London resident since 1970, is not going gently into that good night of the Third Age ... she tells not only her own story but has also drafted the likes of super-granny Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall, the mouthy publican Norman Balon ... to say what, besides cheerfulness and bloody-mindedness, keeps them going. Excelsior!'
'This is by no means a mean-spirited rant -- it's a clever deconstruction of everything that has mattered to her and to most of us -- friendship, family, the struggle to improve, to look good, be well liked -- seen from her feisty, hard-fought outpost'
'Her memoir veers between beady anecdote and a ruminative melancholy ... she is wonderful on the unexpected gains of old age ... a valuable contribution to the emerging literature of the third age'
'Kurtz brings humour to the subject ... Kurtz intersperses her own experiences with messages from people whose insights add much to the book's values ... and the way she captures their voices is as impressive as the way she preserves her own'
'Be warned, Kurtz refusing to take getting old quietly is just the beginning'
'She successfully demolishes common notions of an enfeebled generation, while also celebrating the easily recognisable benefits: grandchildren, cruises, lifelong friendships ... a cheerful and animated guide to what the French elegantly term 'the third age"'
'An intriguing account ... all is interspersed with the fascinating musings of aged acquaintances ... this is an informative, albeit gently paced, read about the joys and misfortunes of growing oold, enlivened by Kurtz's sharp wit and insight'
'Irma Kurtz is thoughtful and funny'
'Witty and compassionate look at aging'
'All the energy, maturity, wisdom and humour of Irma Kurtz ... these dozen inspiring interviews are spark-full of the instinct for survival and waymarked with strategies for living with the dignity and desires we take with us into the adventures of the Third Age'
'Feisty OAP Irma Kurtz whizzes here and there taking a wry and witty squint at the art of growing old ... this is a wonderfully life-enhancing book, packed with optimism and humour'
'Kurtz is no grumbling fool ... her meditations on growing old and the passage of time are worth reading'
'Kurtz combines rejoicing in much of it with warnings ... and we had better listen to her, before we, too, fail to age well, and disgracefully'
'A witty celebration of our twilight years ... she offers wise insights ... a joyful and moving expression of the next stage of life'
'A funny and insightful look at a subject that may be engrossing us before long'
'A richly stimulating read, full of light and shade and vibrant humanity, a book whose perspicacity makes it truly pertinent to everyone'
'An invigorating, funny and insightful read'
'A beautifully written examination of old age . . . delightful and inspirational'
"Beautifully written examination of old age...delightful and inspirational"
'Irma Kurtz's beautifully written examination of old age is a mixture of memoir, polemic and interviews with fascinating older people' - Irish Times,
'An invigorating, funny and insightful read' - Daily Mail, 29 Jan
'Kurtz mixes her own family history with the reminiscences of some fascinating friends' - Sunday Times, 24 Jan (4 Stars)