Happiness is a choice you make : lessons from a year among the oldest old

Title:

Author:

Leland, John, 1959- author.

Personal Author:

Leland, John, 1959- author.

ISBN:

9780374168186

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

242 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

Contents:

Meet the elders -- Surprise of a lifetime -- The paradox of old age -- Why older means wiser -- Love in the time of Lipitor -- On the other hand ... -- More years, less life? -- The lessons -- The lessons of Fred -- The lessons of Ping -- The lessons of John -- The lessons of Helen -- The lessons of Ruth -- The lessons of Jonas.

Abstract:

A "look at what it means to grow old and a ... guide to well-being, [this book] weaves together the stories and wisdom of six New Yorkers who number among the 'oldest old'--those eighty-five and up"--Dust jacket flap.

Subject Term:

Conduct of life.

Happiness in old age.

Older people.

Wisdom.

Summary:

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Main Library	Book	305.2 L538	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Main Library	Book	305.2 L538	Searching... Unknown
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Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

A New York Times Bestseller!

An extraordinary look at what it means to grow old and a heartening guide to well-being, Happiness Is a Choice You Make weaves together the stories and wisdom of six New Yorkers who number among the "oldest old"-- those eighty-five and up.

In 2015, when the award-winning journalist John Leland set out on behalf of The New York Times to meet members of America's fastest-growing age group, he anticipated learning of challenges, of loneliness, and of the deterioration of body, mind, and quality of life. But the elders he met took him in an entirely different direction. Despite disparate backgrounds and circumstances, they each lived with a surprising lightness and contentment. The reality Leland encountered upended contemporary notions of aging, revealing the late stages of life as unexpectedly rich and the elderly as incomparably wise.

Happiness Is a Choice You Make is an enduring collection of lessons that emphasizes, above all, the extraordinary influence we wield over the quality of our lives. With humility, heart, and wit, Leland has crafted a sophisticated and necessary reflection on how to "live better"--informed by those who have mastered the art.

Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

New York Times reporter Leland (Why Kerouac Matters, 2007, etc.) chronicles the year he spent communing with the "oldest old," gleaning as much of value about his own life as about those he followed.Drawn from a remarkable newspaper series, this book, though sometimes repetitive and studded with occasional obvious insights, harbors far more than advice and received wisdom. The author offers an adaptive framework for a way of thinking about aging that can be transformational, and not in the conventional self-help sense. From the engrossing opening chapter to the close, Leland gives us a felicitous though practical perspective that mines a year in the life of six people ages 88 to 92, who "came from different backgrounds and social strata." Many readers will find it encouraging to know that the future need not be all decline and diminishment. The author does not gloss over the physical and emotional difficulties of advancing years, some of which may seem insurmountable. But guided by the evolving outlooks of his subjects, Leland discovers strategies for compensating, for enrichment and usefulness at any age, including his own. Divorced at 55, living alone for the first time, and responsible for an 86-year-old mother whose only wish is to die, Leland finds his own path to acceptance and joy. If the title of the book sounds banal, it is no less valid for its (deceptive) simplicity. It is, in fact, absolutely true, as the six culturally diverse "seniors" demonstrate in their own fascinating ways. Few books about aging show such clarity and purpose or so deftly blend cleareyed examinations of social issues with a realistic but hopeful cast of mind.In this edifying and often quite moving book, Leland presents the "lessons" taught by his subjects even as they themselves are learning them, and he does so with an empathy and thoroughness that deserve our gratitude. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.