Between a Rock and a Hot Place

December 6, 2010
In her first book, Huffington Post blogger Jackson, 52, dishes up advice for women on adjusting to aging with no aspect of her life out of bounds. After her doctor reminds her of the benefits of self-satisfaction, she dreams up a masturbatory fantasy starring Jon Stewart; a play date ends with her having to search for her reading glasses to decipher a sex-toy instruction manual. Also candid about her cosmetic procedures, Jackson confesses that though her face drooped like a stroke victim's after getting 40 Botox shots in one visit, her solution was to get more Botox and other toxins injected on a regular basis. Jackson also shares how after her screenwriting career spiraled downward due in part, she believes, to ageism, she took more control by producing and directing a documentary; her grieving when her firstborn flew the nest for college; and the crushing, sudden death of her best friend. Jackson's financial tips are sensible if familiar, but the happily married author's fake tryout of an Internet dating site seems insulting to singles. Jackson is a perceptive guide to the country of aging, but her frankness and self-deprecating humor often veer into crude and off-putting territory.