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And Other Shocks of Later Life
by Judith ViorstA collection of poems that tickle, console, and offer the pleasure of instant recognition -- the perfect book for any woman anywhere in the vicinity of sixty.
From the bestselling author of Forever Fifty comes a new collection of
poems that tickle, console, and offer the pleasure of instant recognition -- the
perfect book for any woman anywhere in the vicinity of sixty.
Judith Viorst's "decade" books of verse -- including It's Hard
to Be Hip Over Thirty, How Did I Get to Be Forty, and Forever Fifty
-- have delighted millions of readers worldwide who relish her wit, warmth, and
wisdom. Now here she is with Suddenly Sixty, a funny and touching book
that speaks directly to the sixty-ish woman, inviting her to laugh about, sigh
over, and come to hopeful terms with the complex issues of this decade of life.
Among the poems in this charmingly illustrated collection are those exploring
the joys -- and strains -- of children and grandchildren, and the intimacy of
old friends who've "known each other so long/We knew each other back when
we were virgins." There are poems that tip their hat to mortality, wrestle
with a husband's retirement -- "He's coming with me when I shop at the
supermarket/So I won't have to shop alone. I like alone." -- and
acknowledge the fact that at this stage of life we'd "give up a night of
wild rapture with Denzel Washington for a nice report on my next bone density
test." Offering plenty of laughs, a few tears, and cover-to-cover truths,
these are poems for everyone who would "rather say never say die than
enough is enough." Every woman who has reached this decade will -- rueful
and smiling -- find herself in the pages of this book.
Excerpt
Suddenly Sixty
It's Harder to Be Frisky Over Sixty
Inside my shoes and my panty hose
I've painted blue nail polish on my toes,
A skirmish in the war that I wage
Against the constraints of my current age.
Despite the advent of Medicare,
I will still buy bikini underwear
And scorn the notion that seniorhood
Means it's too late to be up to no good.
I would if I could.
Don't give me extra time to walk down the jetway.
And please don't get up and give me your seat on the bus.
I'd rather be engagée than Emeritus,
Though it's harder to be frisky over sixty.
I'm not prepared to sign up for Elderhostel.
Retirement communities? Save your brochures.
I'll keep right on trucking as long as my strength endures,
Though it's harder to be frisky over sixty.
I'm standing firm against the Early Bird Special.
I'm out on the dance floor strutting what's left of my stuff.
I'd rather say never say die than enough is enough,
Though it's harder to be frisky over sixty.
I ...
If you liked Suddenly Sixty, try these:
by Ram Dass
Published 2001
The man who blazed the spiritual trail for his generation brings his wisdom and humor to the path that takes us to the end of life and beyond.
by Dave Barry
Published 1999
Dave writes not only about being 50, but also about 50 years of inventions (Oreos, Silly Putty), arts (Howdy Doody, TV commercials), politics and other baby boomer nostalgia.
Ginseng Roots
by Craig Thompson
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Awake in the Floating City
by Susanna Kwan
A debut novel about an artist and a 130-year-old woman bound by love and memory in a future, flooded San Francisco.
The Original Daughter
by Jemimah Wei
A dazzling debut by Jemimah Wei about ambition, sisterhood, and family bonds in turn-of-the-millennium Singapore.
Serial Killer Games
by Kate Posey
A morbidly funny and emotionally resonant novel about the ways life—and love—can sneak up on us (no matter how much pepper spray we carry).
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