Two genial, upbeat guides for life’s later chapters.
Tips for women for growing older with panache.
Hecht, a retired orthopedic surgeon who died at the age of 93, just months before this book was published, and award-winning actor Goldberg, who is 66, share wisdom, anecdotes, and pithy one-liners on a host of topics that concern aging women. Among the many issues they cover are dealing with inevitable aches and pains, addressing hearing impairment and short-term memory loss (something Hecht experienced), choosing what to wear, caring for aging skin, dating, making new friends, remaining independent when needing outside assistance, and napping when necessary. Most of the advice comes from Dr. Hecht, with Goldberg adding her “two cents” to selected chapters. Hecht rings in on matters medical, social, psychological, and practical to help readers navigate the challenges of growing older. “Connections, continuous learning, and being socially active,” she advises, are crucial to health and happiness. She enthusiastically celebrates the pleasures and surprises of excursions. As for dating, while Goldberg prefers meeting on Zoom rather than in person, Hecht is open to dating and sharing activities, including sex. She warns against using dating services and apps, though, suggesting that it’s better to meet someone through friends or by participating in groups. Hecht brings considerable authority to her advice about navigating the medical system: finding a doctor or surgeon, making the most of visits, getting a second opinion, and dealing with one’s fear of surgery (or even fear of going to the dentist). She offers a set of exercises to do in bed that make getting up easier, and she encourages aerobic, toning, and range-of-motion activities, such as swimming, yoga, and golf, which keep the body fit. Most of all, the authors urge readers to forget assumptions that come with being 60 or 70 or 90: “You’re a guru,” the authors insist. “You are not a number.”
Two genial, upbeat guides for life’s later chapters.Pub Date: Nov. 8, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-7852-4164-5
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Harper Horizon
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2022
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.
The chef, rapper, and TV host serves up a blustery memoir with lashings of self-help.
“I’ve always had a sick confidence,” writes Bronson, ne Ariyan Arslani. The confidence, he adds, comes from numerous sources: being a New Yorker, and more specifically a New Yorker from Queens; being “short and fucking husky” and still game for a standoff on the basketball court; having strength, stamina, and seemingly no fear. All these things serve him well in the rough-and-tumble youth he describes, all stickball and steroids. Yet another confidence-builder: In the big city, you’ve got to sink or swim. “No one is just accepted—you have to fucking show that you’re able to roll,” he writes. In a narrative steeped in language that would make Lenny Bruce blush, Bronson recounts his sentimental education, schooled by immigrant Italian and Albanian family members and the mean streets, building habits good and bad. The virtue of those habits will depend on your take on modern mores. Bronson writes, for example, of “getting my dick pierced” down in the West Village, then grabbing a pizza and smoking weed. “I always smoke weed freely, always have and always will,” he writes. “I’ll just light a blunt anywhere.” Though he’s gone through the classic experiences of the latter-day stoner, flunking out and getting arrested numerous times, Bronson is a hard charger who’s not afraid to face nearly any challenge—especially, given his physique and genes, the necessity of losing weight: “If you’re husky, you’re always dieting in your mind,” he writes. Though vulgar and boastful, Bronson serves up a model that has plenty of good points, including his growing interest in nature, creativity, and the desire to “leave a legacy for everybody.”
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4478-5
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.
The late actor offers a gentle guide for living with more purpose, love, and joy.
Mixing poetry, prescriptive challenges, and elements of memoir, Heche (1969-2022) delivers a narrative that is more encouraging workbook than life story. The author wants to share what she has discovered over the course of a life filled with abuse, advocacy, and uncanny turning points. Her greatest discovery? Love. “Open yourself up to love and transform kindness from a feeling you extend to those around you to actions that you perform for them,” she writes. “Only by caring can we open ourselves up to the universe, and only by opening up to the universe can we fully experience all the wonders that it holds, the greatest of which is love.” Throughout the occasionally overwrought text, Heche is heavy on the concept of care. She wants us to experience joy as she does, and she provides a road map for how to get there. Instead of slinking away from Hollywood and the ridicule that she endured there, Heche found the good and hung on, with Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford starring as particularly shining knights in her story. Some readers may dismiss this material as vapid Hollywood stuff, but Heche’s perspective is an empathetic blend of Buddhism (minimize suffering), dialectical behavioral therapy (tolerating distress), Christianity (do unto others), and pre-Socratic philosophy (sufficient reason). “You’re not out to change the whole world, but to increase the levels of love and kindness in the world, drop by drop,” she writes. “Over time, these actions wear away the coldness, hate, and indifference around us as surely as water slowly wearing away stone.” Readers grieving her loss will take solace knowing that she lived her love-filled life on her own terms. Heche’s business and podcast partner, Heather Duffy, writes the epilogue, closing the book on a life well lived.
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781627783316
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Viva Editions
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
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