60 on Up: The Truth about Aging in America

by Lillian Rubin

Overview

Getting old sucks, says best-selling author Dr. Lillian Rubin. With refreshing candor, she digs down under the statistics about our graying population and offers a provocative and unflinching examination of all the burning issues that mark aging today. Tackling the subject over a broad swath of the population, cutting across race, class, gender, and physical and cognitive ability, Rubin delivers a powerful and long-overdue reminder that everyone will be touched by the problems arising from our new longevity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807029299
Publisher:	Beacon Press
Publication date:	09/01/2008
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Sociologist and psychotherapist Lillian B. Rubin (1924-2014) was the author of twelve books, including 60 on Up, The Man with the Beautiful Voice, Tangled Lives, Worlds of Pain, Intimate Strangers, and Just Friends.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Through the Looking Glass 1 Chapter 2 Out of the Closet 7 Chapter 3 Staying Younger While Getting Older 19 Chapter 4 Does Age Count Anymore? 29 Chapter 5 The Marriage of Self and Society 43 Chapter 6 The Golden Years? They've Gotta Be Kidding! 51 Chapter 7 ... And Now About Sex 71 Chapter 8 The Shrinking Ties That Bind 85 Chapter 9 Hey Folks, You're Spending My Inheritance 99 Chapter 10 Taking Care of Mom and Dad 111 Chapter 11 Oh My God, We're Old! 133 Chapter 12 It's Better Than the Alternative, Isn't It? 147 Chapter 13 One Last Word 165 Acknowledgments 173 Notes 175

Editorial Reviews

For anyone in their fifties, sixties, or beyond, a new way to think about the rest of your life. —Alix Kates Shulman

"What does it mean that Americans now want to retire early, but typically live into their 90s? . . . Rubin, in her early 80s and a very good writer, explores the good news/bad news about greater longevity of today's Americans."—David Mehegan, Boston Globe

"A sharp, brazenly honest exposé for the 78 million baby boomers who will grow old over the next two decades and can reasonably expect to survive into their 90s."—Cathleen Medwick, O Magazine

"60 on Up is everything most books on aging are not. It is not sentimental, not filled with stale advice to keep busy, avoid calories, and think young. Instead, it offers authentic wisdom about the complexities of aging. Its fiercely realistic but tender explorations are strangely comforting because they relieve us of the burden of denial and give us a vision of facing our later years with dignity and courage."—Sam Keen, author of Fire in the Belly

"With honesty, compassion and a large measure of wit and wisdom . . . Rubin describes in full the world of the elderly in America . . . Revealing and thought-provoking, this book makes a fine, thorough primer for middle-aged adults preparing for 'this business of getting old.'"—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

With honesty, compassion and a large measure of wit and wisdom, 83-year-old author Rubin (Intimate Strangers, Just Friends, etc.) describes in full the world of the elderly in America, where social circles diminish as friends die, sexual desire and ability fade, and the wish to "die with dignity" conflicts with the "often vain hope of putting off our meeting with it just a little longer." Rubin, a psychotherapist for 35 years,has gathered numerous interviews with seniors and combined them with her own reflections to illustrate clearly the difficult questions today's seniors face, both in the day-to-day and the long run. Straightforward, revealing and thought-provoking, this book makes a fine, thorough primer for middle-aged adults preparing for "this business of getting old" in "a society that sees old age as repugnant at the same time that it... dream[s] of extending life still further"; however, it's best avoided by anyone who wants to keep believing that "if you eat right, sleep right, exercise your body and your brain right, you'll never get reallyold." The elderly will find much to nod along with, and a handy tool for getting their point across to middle-aged children whose fearful attitudes toward aging can keep an otherwise normal sense of understanding at bay. (Sept.)

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Publishers Weekly

Rubin tells it like it is. A sociologist, psychotherapist, author (Families on the Fault Line), and octogenarian, she is very smart and very angry-and highly readable-as she uses both scholarly and popular references to describe how, despite the media's bombardment of messages to the contrary, 60 today is most assuredly notthe new 40-Botox, Viagra, and plastic surgery notwithstanding. The elderly in our society are disdained, dismissed, and oppressed, and the current generation of baby boomers about to turn 60 is, she says, in for a very rude awakening. Our bodies and brains, Rubin observes, "seem to have a mind and timetable of their own that remains outside our control." Hours of rigorous exercise and the most carefully followed diet will not change the irrefutable facts of decline and death. Rather than perceiving aging as a disease that must be conquered, Rubin encourages us to accept its inevitability and to plan accordingly. Although one wishes that the author applied the same verve and wit that she shows in this clear-sighted wake-up call to a fuller discussion of how American society might change its notions about aging, this is still recommended for all libraries.
—Ellen D. Gilbert

Library Journal