Description: When longtime writer John Jerome turned sixty-four, he started keeping a journal about his impending rendezvous with the milestone that sixty-five years of age represents in our culture. He hoped to overhaul his life and, by reducing it to its essentials -- for one thing, getting rid of as many "things" as possible -- enlarge its satisfactions. ("It's a foolish dream I suppose -- catching up with the mountain of stuff we seem to keep pushing ahead of ourselves".) The result is an entertaining and winning account of the punishments and rewards of aging, which will provide wise companionship for all those facing the same kind of transition and for others of any age who are paying attention to the aging process. Supplemented by Jerome's wider investigations of such subjects as mortality and sexuality and the writings of Thoreau, "On Turning Sixty-five" takes us through a year in one man's life as he confronts serious spinal surgery and a reduction in the scope of his physical activities. For example, he sees his regular canoe trip in the lakes of the Adirondacks as a physically questionable endeavor. Most centrally, he feels it incumbent on himself to fight the physical depradations caused by the passage of time -- "Age saps elasticity from your connective tissue, drawing you tighter....Age dries you up" -- but at the same time to accept them with grace when they are unavoidable. Jerome feels that such acceptance is itself a form of victory.

Please Wait