Select Format
Select Condition 
Book Overview
And so you've reached that time in life when you're starting to pick investments over adventure, clean over scenic, comfortable over intense; when, even though in your heart of hearts you're only seventeen, the rest of you is (how did it happen?) forty. The wise and witty lady of It's Hard to Be Hip Over Thirty is here to get you through those forty-ish years with poems that reflect our common shared experience. So let her help you take a look at that decade of sagging kneecaps and college reunions and fantasies of love in the afternoon; at Maoist kids, cholesterol counts, adult-education courses and other atrocities - which somehow just don't hurt so much when you laugh. A marvelous book filled with insight and warmth, How Did I Get to Be 40 ... & Other Atrocities is Judith Viorst at her best. Book jacket.
Format:Hardcover
Language:English
ISBN:0671223666
ISBN13:9780671223663
Release Date:October 1976
Publisher:Simon & Schuster
Length:53 Pages
Weight:0.50 lbs.
Dimensions:0.4" x 6.3" x 7.9"
Customer Reviews
3 ratings
Classic Judith Viorst humor writing
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 22 years ago
Fine poetry this is not, but Judith Viorst hits another home run by applying her piercing sense of humor to the sundry atrocities involved in turning forty: having your children grow up, wondering about your husband, feeling left out, misunderstood, underappreciated, uncomfortable dinner parties, seeing the marriages of your friends break up, and so on. This all sounds like very much a downer, but Viorst manages the neat trick of turning it into funny stuff, as in "The Truth":"The truth isIf I had it all to do overI still wouldn't study Swahili,Learn to fly a plane,Or take 92 lovers,Some of them simultaneously . . .The truth isThat I'll always want to bePure enough to hate white bread,Deep enough to admire Patagonian folk art,Thin enough to go swimming in the nude,Mature enough to outgrow Erich Fromm,Nice enough to be nice to my Uncle Bernie,And secure enough to not need getting married."Viorst raises issues that come up as you get older, and takes her readers with her by acknowledging the down side while seeing the humor it all brings as well. This is a terrific gift for a "newly forty" pal or for any married mom with kids.
Great little book!
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 23 years ago
Judith Viorst is my favorite author! I loved discovering her books on age. She hits the mark more times than not on the feelings that we have at a given age! I find that I reread her books often when I need a lift or a laugh! Makes a wonderful gift for a good friend.
Knowing How it Feels
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 24 years ago
For a decade that begins with being "Over the Hill," there is a negative connotation comes with being forty. It implies that 40 means "old". You may often be asking yourself, "Where did the time go?" Instead of looking ahead, as for the previous years, you may find your self searching back. Lonely and Confused you may wonder, "Does anyone know how it feels?" By reading Viorst's Book, I was motivated to look ahead instead of searching for the past. She made it feel as though there is still a hike to hump of the hill. Entusiastic about being forty instead of being depressed about middle-age, she explains how to cope with the every-day experiences of being forty. To best put it she makes you feel OKAY about middle-age!
Copyright © 2025 Thriftbooks.com
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information | Cookie Policy | Cookie Preferences | Accessibility Statement
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
