Reviews for Amazingly Simple Lessons We Learned After 50

The average rating for Amazingly Simple Lessons We Learned After 50 based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-09-03 00:00:00 Charlotte Pemberton At almost the exact midpoint of this diary of a writing professor who's trying to come to terms with his retirement, he notes, after finding a note from his wife taking him to task for writing about retirement as if he's in it alone, when "that's not true, not right. I'm here, have been and will be . . . world without end," he is reminded of an earlier vow "to resist the self-centeredness and effrontery" that's endemic to the personal essay, but doesn't know "whether my sudden awareness of the problem will enable me to overcome any of the self-centeredness that's inherent in a diary, especially one about retirement." (127-28) He never really succeeds in avoiding this trap. This book was a most appropriate retirement gift, and I decided to read it just an entry or two at a time over a period of several months, to sort of share his experience in real time. Although there are occasional passages that helped me think about retirement, the author's situation is so different that such help is limited, and I tired of his references to what he was cooking and/or eating. Finally, I was also annoyed by his apparent obliviousness to his station of privilege.

Review # 2 was written on 2020-08-28 00:00:00 Glynis Jenkins A nice "travelogue" of a professor's first year of retirement, culminating in a month long journey in the American West. I would note that he tends to focus on the rarified concerns of a man with a pension which replaces 120% of his working income, as well as a retained office at the university which is just a 1.5 mile walk from home... Pretty "high class" problems! 😉