The beloved New York Times columnist "inspires women to embrace aging and look at it with a new sense of hope" in this lively, fascinating, eye-opening look at women and aging in America (Parade Magazine).
"You're not getting older, you're getting better," or so promised the famous 1970's ad -- for women's hair dye. Americans have always had a complicated relationship with aging: embrace it, deny it, defer it -- and women have been on the front lines of the battle, willingly or not.
In her lively social history of American women and aging, acclaimed New York Times columnist Gail Collins illustrates the ways in which age is an arbitrary concept that has swung back and forth over the centuries. From Plymouth Rock (when a woman was considered marriageable if "civil and under fifty years of age"), to a few generations later, when they were quietly retired to elderdom once they had passed the optimum age for reproduction, to recent decades when freedom from striving in the workplace and caretaking at home is often celebrated, to the first female nominee for president, American attitudes towards age have been a moving target. Gail Collins gives women reason to expect the best of their golden years.
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"Known for the punch of her columns, Collins sprinkles conversational asides throughout to keep this hike through the decades spry. . . . Former New Jersey Rep. Millicent Fenwick . . . is just one of the many fascinating, unstoppable exemplars Collins manages to squeeze into this tightly laced historical corset."
— Heller McAlpin, NPR
“The Times columnist sets out to tell the ‘story of women and age in America’ by diving into the long tradition of older women’s political involvement. This is a deeply reported book…an eye-opening guide to our shifting attitudes about aging, particularly when it came to women.”
— New York Times“Collins…is a cheerful companion through the decades…There are dozens upon dozens of heroic stories of remarkable women in this book that will be new to the average reader.”
— Washington Post“Robust social history.”
— NPR“A lively celebration of women’s potential.”
— Kirkus Reviews“A lively and well-researched compendium…This enjoyable and informative historical survey will delight Collins’s fans and bring in some new ones.”
— Publishers Weekly“Collins continues her exploration of women’s history with this breezy look at the position of older women in American society. This is a diverting and certainly interesting and valuable read.”
— BooklistA deeply researched, entertaining book . . . [Collins] brings a reporter's eye to the facts and anecdotes, and never without humor.
— New York TimesCollins . . . is a cheerful companion through the decades.
— Washington PostAn eye-opening guide to our shifting attitudes about aging."—New York Times
A lively celebration of women's potential.
— KirkusCollins continues her exploration of women's history with this breezy look at the position of older women in American society. This is a diverting and certainly interesting and valuable read.
— BooklistA lively and well-researched compendium. . . . This enjoyable and informative historical survey will delight Collins's fans and bring in some new ones.
— Publishers WeeklySplendid...Collins is a masterful storyteller.
— Glenn C. Altschuler, NPR.comDid feminism fail? Gail Collins's smart, thorough, often droll and extremely readable account of women's recent history in America not only answers this question brilliantly, but also poses new ones about the past and the present.
— Amy Bloom, The New York Times Book ReviewRiveting and remarkably thorough in its account of this tumultuous period.
— Rasha Madkour, Los Angeles TimesCompulsively readable.
— Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning NewsGail Collins has an unflaggingly intelligent conversational style that gives this book a personal and authoritative tone all at once.
— Cathleen Schine, The New York Review of BooksExhilarating, accessible, and inspiring.
— Katha Pollitt, Slate.comGail Collins is such a delicious writer, it's easy to forget the scope of her scholarship in this remarkable look at women's progress.
— PeopleBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Gail Collins is a columnist for the New York Times. From 2001 to 2007 she was editorial page editor of the paper, the first woman to have held that position.
Tanya Eby is a novelist and an audiobook narrator who has earned several AudioFile Earphones Awards and been nominated for the Audie Award. She has a BA degree in English language and literature and an MFA in creative writing from the University of Southern Maine.