About this title: Armed with recent medical evidence that supports the cliche that older people are, indeed, wiser, Alford sets off to interview people over 70 - some famous (Phyllis Diller, Harold Bloom, Edward Albee), some accomplished (the world's most-quoted author, a woman who walked across the country at age 89 in support of campaign finance reform), some unusual (a pastor who thinks napping is a form of prayer, a retired aerospace engineer who eats food out of the garbage.) Early on in the process, Alford interviews his 79 year-old mother and step-father, and inadvertently changes the course of their 36 ...
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Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Twelve
Date Published: 2009-01-02
ISBN-13:9780446196031ISBN:0446196037
Description: NEW. Hardcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780446196031. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Twelve
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780446196031ISBN:0446196037
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Description: Very Good. 0446196037 ONLY READ ONCE-PAGES IN EXCELLENT CONDITION-I SHIP FAST-Hardcover with Dust Jacket-slight shelf wear to Dust Jacket-(Clean Pages)- read more
Description: Fine; Collectible. First edition. No writings/underlines/highlights except comments on last page. Pages are very nice and clean. Free track. Fast! Satisfaction guaranteed! read more
Edition: 1st edition
Binding: Hardback
Publisher: Grand Central Pub
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780446196031ISBN:0446196037
Description: New. In this witty guide for seekers of all ages, Alford searches for instant enlightenment through conversations with those who have lived long and lived well. read more
"I almost gave up on this book ten times. It is not as advertised. Alford spends much of the book talking about his elderly mother who decides in her eighties to divorce Alford's stepdad. Here and there, Alford stops to interview elderly people but he obtains very little wisdom. Please. If you say you are going to write a book about the wisdom we can obtain from old people, then you've got to seek out wise old people. Disappointing."
"Reviews comparing the author to David Sedaris should have been a tip-off to me that this is a book about the elderly, but not for the elderly. I tried a few selections with my geriatric clients, but they found the style of narration and hipster references off-putting and confusing. ("When do we get to the part about Phyllis Diller?" "Is he gay now? Why do I need to know that?" "Why is talking about his mother? Is his mother famous?")
I wondered briefly if this is a book that will appeal to people Alford's age when they shuffle off to the retirement home, but I'm not sure the famous interviewees will have the same appeal twenty or thirty years from now. Will the future aged hipster know or care about Phyllis Diller or Edward Albee?
So much of what Alford labels wisdom seems to me to be temperament or good fortune, which makes it hard to apply to one's own life. If losing everything in Hurricane Katrina doesn't make you feel sorry for yourself, probably nothing will, but that isn't much comfort to someone who frames their life differently. How charming to find comfort and meaning in your interesting career, but of how little relevance to the grim man who has worked, grimly, at a job he hated for most of his life? The old people I work with are very different from the people Alford has chosen to interview.
I can't dislike a book because of its lack of utility in my work, however. I dislike this book because of the author's self-referential perspective. How is it that in a slim volume of interviews with elders like Harold Bloom, the Dalai Lama--and even Phyllis Diller--the reader still gets a chapter about the author's cat? Whatever the sub-title* of a book by Alford says, the book is just another one about Alford. Some people like that, I suppose, but I think it is asinine.
*Sub-titles are asinine, too...unless you are writing in the 18th Century. From now on, if your book has a colon on the cover, I'm automatically deducting 25 pages from my 100 page rule."
"Dear Goodreads: When I typed "How to Live" into "find books by title or author," your search engine suggested: How I Live Now, How Starbucks Saved My Life, How the Dead Live, How the Other Half Lives, How Shall We Now Live, Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat (!), Pornified (!!) and 56 other books before finally hitting on the correct title. Perhaps you could borrow a summer intern from Google to show you how the "search" function is supposed to work? Anyway, this book was both funny and informative, plus there's a whole chapter about Sandra Tsing Loh's nutty old dad, so an extra star for that! I'm adding this to my secret list of "books that would make good Christmas presents.""
"How to Live: a Search for Wisdom From Old People (While They are Still on This Earth) by Henry Alford
Alford's exploration of what constitutes wisdom and where it comes from read a little more lightly than I would have expected. While Alford has done his research and shares many of the gems he has gleaned from his reading, I didn't feel enlightened. His experiences during his mother's divorce and his interviews with the elderly are entertaining, but they impart no wisdom in the end.
I would be more impressed with How to Live had I not recently read The Geography of Bliss, in which Eric Weiner visits places deemed happiest by the Institute of World Happiness. The research provided a consistent thread for Weiner to base his plan of action upon. Alford's use of his mother's relationship, in contrast, felt a little forced.
Overall, this is a nice read for a quiet weekend, but not one that carries the weight implied by the title."
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