Old Age

February 29, 2016
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.

March 1, 2016
A short book about aging and baby boomers that mixes memoir and self-help.One of the highest-profile journalists in America before he made his diagnosis of Parkinson's disease public, Vanity Fair columnist Kinsley (Please Don't Remain Calm: Provocations and Commentaries, 2008, etc.) feels that he has a head start on the rest of his boomer generation on the challenges that aging brings: "Sometimes 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...what I have, at the level I have it, is an interesting foretaste of our shared future--a beginner's guide to old age." With a slowly progressing form of the disease, the author still has his wits about him, as this droll, engaging, often self-deprecating confessional attests, but he knows that others treat him differently and that his career has plateaued before it once might have peaked. He takes the long view on some big questions concerning "the age of competitive longevity"--is the goal to live longest? To die when you still have most of your marbles? To leave the best legacy and be remembered longest? He suggests "death before dementia" as a rallying cry: "It is also your best strategy, at the moment, because there's no cure for either one." Most of the chapters were originally published in different forms in national magazines and don't always cohere. The last is the one that fits least, focusing on how the boomers as a whole can counter the narrative that has them squandering the legacy of their Greatest Generation parents by paying down the national debt. As the author recognizes, "besides the tsunami of dementia heading our way, there is going to be a tsunami of books about health issues by every boomer journalist who has any, which ultimately will be all of them." An uneven but ultimately satisfying examination of the importance of "long years of good health, not long years simply breathing in and out."

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Starred review from May 1, 2016

Three new memoirs from boomers address in different perspectives the final frontiers of old age, illness and death, and what has happened along the way. Which approach works best, looking back, analyzing the present, or gazing forward? Each memoirist makes a pretty strong case for their method.

Freelance journalist Hertneky's Rust Belt Boy grapples with events of his generation with an examination of his Steel Belt hometown, Ambridge, PA, a Pittsburgh suburb, after the steel turned to rust and the "Burgh Diaspora" occurred. Taught in school to look--optimistically--to the future, instead of back at the area's history and cultural vibrancy, Hertneky reports in a series of thoughtful essays on the traditions of ethnicity, religion, and family that have shaped the community named after the American Bridge Company. Despite the reluctance of longtime residents and aging relatives to tell stories about the old days, Hertneky concludes that the town's formative narratives are carried within him and others, serving as a force in the region's rebirth.

Buddhist, playwright, feminist, peace activist and essayist Giammatteo struggled to find balance between her own needs and those of her dying mother as she navigated several tricky years of midlife. An attempt to gain insight into aging without angst led her to employment as a companion to the elderly in Seattle, thousands of miles away from her own parents in Pennsylvania. While the irony of that situation was not lost on her, the lessons she learned negotiating a peace with her difficult and staunchly Christian Science-practicing adoptive mother led the author to the realization that just showing up, or being present for her mother, was the key to living through a difficult state of affairs gracefully. Giammatteo's wry observations about her elderly companions, her own health, and that of her needy mother keep the narrative firmly grounded in the here and now.

Finally, Slate founder, New Yorker contributor, Vanity Fair columnist, and policy wonk Kinsley examines the boomer legacy from the vantage point of his experiences living both with and without Parkinson's disease. His larger concern, however, is with the generation's posthumous reputation. Kinsley's hybrid of the personal and the political essay is enlivened with anecdotes about famous politicos and the author's own medical odyssey, yet the focus remains on how boomers' futures will unfold. Kinsley considers himself an advance scout for the boomers, experiencing in his 50s what the rest of his cohort will go through in their later years. His ambitious (but quixotic) plan for his generation to conquer the national debt is one suggestion Kinsley makes in his call to arms. His greater point is not to be ignored: we're all in this together. VERDICT For those who are navigating middle and old age, these memoirists offer thoughtful observations about the journey, particularly Kinsley, who even provides a suggestion for saving the generation's posthumous reputation.--Therese Purcell Nielsen, Huntington P.L., NY

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