About Time: Growing Old Disgracefully - Hardcover

Irma Kurtz, a veteran journalist, writer and London resident since 1970, is not going gently into that good night of the Third Age ... she tells not only her own story but has also drafted the likes of super-granny Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall, the mouthy publican Norman Balon ... to say what, besides cheerfulness and bloody-mindedness, keeps them going.  Excelsior!

This is by no means a mean-spirited rant it s a clever deconstruction of everything that has mattered to her and to most of us friendship, family, the struggle to improve, to look good, be well liked seen from her feisty, hard-fought outpost

Her memoir veers between beady anecdote and a ruminative melancholy ... she is wonderful on the unexpected gains of old age. ...a valuable contribution to the emerging literature of the third age

Kurtz brings humour to the subject ... Kurtz intersperses her own experiences with messages from people whose insights add much to the book s values ... and the way she captures their voices is as impressive as the way she preserves her own

Be warned, Kurtz refusing to take getting old quietly is just the beginning

She successfully demolishes common notions of an enfeebled generation, while also celebrating the easily recognisable benefits: grandchildren, cruises, lifelong friendships ... a cheerful and animated guide to what the French elegantly term "the third age"'

An intriguing account ... all is interspersed with the fascinating musings of aged acquaintances ... this is an informative, albeit gently paced, read about the joys and misfortunes of growing oold, enlivened by Kurtz s sharp wit and insight

Irma Kurtz is thoughtful and funny

Witty and compassionate look at aging

All the energy, maturity, wisdom and humour of Irma Kurtz ... these dozen inspiring interviews are spark-full of the instinct for survival and waymarked with strategies for living with the dignity and desires we take with us into the adventures of the Third Age

Feisty OAP Irma Kurtz whizzes here and there taking a wry and witty squint at the art of growing old ... this is a wonderfully life-enhancing book, packed with optimism and humour

Kurtz is no grumbling fool ... her meditations on growing old and the passage of time are worth reading

Kurtz combines rejoicing in much of it with warnings ... and we had better listen to her, before we, too, fail to age well, and disgracefully

A witty celebration of our twilight years ... she offers wise insights ... a joyful and moving expression of the next stage of life

A funny and insightful look at a subject that may be engrossing us before long