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I was invited by the publisher to read On Being 40(ish), and I’m grateful for the opportunity. Fifteen women contributed to these essays on the topic of turning forty. The big 4-0 has always been viewed as a turning point, a milestone, in the same way turning eighteen or twenty-one is; however, there are, arguably, more differences for women at this milestone, according to this thoughtful book. The essays are equal parts honest and emotional and always personal. Regardless of their age, I feel l...
These well-written and mostly encouraging essays were hit-or-miss for me in terms of identifying with the authors since I am neither married nor a mother--traits that were at the heart of many pieces in this book. Overall, though, these women have confirmed something I already suspected. Forty is not the end-all, be-all of existence. I turned forty earlier this month. And I’m okay with that. I’m not going to stick to “29...and holding,” nor will I go about moaning that my life is over. I like wh...
Turning 40 hasn’t been easy for my physically or emotionally, so I found this book of essays at exactly the right time. Each of them resonated with me in different ways and some brought me to tears. I loved reading these women’s reflections and different viewpoints on what life is all about.
This is a poignant collection of essays by women about their life experiences and outlook after turning forty.I don't usually read these types of collections but the description caught my attention, and I'm happy I picked it up. The title includes personal stories from different writers, they explore many themes, from aging, careers, relationships, to the shift in priorities each lived decade.I related to many of the stories, but my absolutely favorite was THE PEOPLE WHO GOT ME HERE by Julie Kla...
Still thinking about how to quantify my rating for this one. I was intrigued by the premise for obvious reasons – turning 40 is on my own mind and is a frequent (while by no means incredibly fraught) subject of conversations with my friends. But I also was somewhat concerned that it would be a self-indulgent read. Two pages into the editor’s introduction I leaned hard into the second feeling as privilege bells clanged loud and abrasively clear. She describes sitting in front of her friend’s glas...
(3.5) Even though I’m only 35, I appreciated this set of women-penned essays (plus one poem, and one comic) on being in one’s forties. Common themes include coming out of the fog of early parenthood and finally having time for oneself again; facing mortality for the first time, either through a personal physical setback or the death of a parent or friend; and pushing past inertia to make a major life change.Many of the writers say something along the lines of, “I thought I’d have it all figured
As a 43 year old lady myself, I've read lots of these essay collections of vaguely feminist ladies writing about LADY STUFF in my time, and this one did not particularly knock my socks off. These things tend to include authors with a pretty limited range of identity and experience -- living in the Northeast or West Coast, maybe Iowa (Writer's project hangover/teaching job). I've over it. The Megan Daum one was good tho, b/c Megan Daum is usually good. I also laughed meanly b/c Sloane Crosley got...
I absolutely loved this little book of essays. I got this as a gift for my 40th, and truthfully this isn’t something I ever would have picked up for myself. But every single essay was well written and made me think about this stage of life. Highly recommended, especially as a gift.
I want to give it 3.5 stars. I enjoyed hearing different perspectives and experiences on aging and would love to meet each of the contributing authors. I just can't give it 5 stars because of the limited depth of experiences. The majority of the women were white, upper-class, and from the North East. It would have been interesting to hear more stories from women of color and varied socioeconomic backgrounds across the nation to paint a picture of aging as a cultural universal instead of a cultur...
Being 40 is awesome. Being 40 is awesome. Being 40 is awesome. Being 40 is awesome. Say it enough and it’s true.
Loved reading essays by writing friends. And I love that women in their 40s are being given a voice, here and in the greater world. Let’s all listen to these women’s experiences. Maybe I’ll take some courage from these and make some of my own personal writing public again.
Full disclosure. I contributed an essay to this collection and it’s an honor to be included with this illustrious group of 15 writers pondering aging, life, what matters and what’s next. In these writers’ hands, forty is both a milestone and just another year. As you’ll see from this wonderful, witty, poignant and wise collective take on what used to be considered “over the hill,” it’s just another decade of notching the belt with all the crazy things that we call “life.” From Sloane Crosley, Ve...
Proud to be a contributor to this amazing anthology with such a powerhouse collective of women!
“the modern [wo]man, at least the kind who is reading a book of essays about turning forty, is faced with a conundrum at forty: How can you be this dissatisfied when you have so much? How can you be this satisfied when you have so little? Ask yourself this [...] and decide that it is okay to not have an answer. It is also okay to forget the question”The book was good, in that easy way that makes you smile, nod; recognize patterns, lessons learned; most of which are not attributable to a single d...
Food for thought, says the newly minted forty year old. While there were a couple of (super whiny) essays I couldn’t stand, there were also a few that moved me to tears.
Like other essay collections, On Being 40(ish) contains some essays better than others. This collection of essays had me crying at times, out loud laughing at times, and nodding my head in solidarity at times. As I near the big 4-0 (gasp) this collection of essays solidified what I already know- I’m happier at almost 40 than ever, my don’t give an f has been triggered, my body reminds me constantly that I’m no spring chicken, and that my 40’s are going to rock. This book is like sitting around w...
Some of the essays were better than others and most of the topics were covered in predictable ways, but the writers were good and I related with most of the essays so it was a worthwhile read.
I appreciated the idea of this book. I was excited to pick this up since I am almost 40 but I found it was kind of cliche and kind of sad. I wanted something lighter, funnier, and yet also kind of deeper? And with more diverse authors and voices. This felt like a very narrow version of what it is to be 40-ish - if you are white, straight, and middle class and have lived a certain type of traditional life.
This book is not a memoir, but a book of personal essays, all about the experience of turning forty. Many contributors are older than 40 and give a broad exploration of this particular season in life. There seems to be a diverse stage of writers and viewpoints, people of different races and ethnicities, marital situations, sexual orientations, and people with and without kids. Even with all of that variety, some universal themes emerge.Here are some of my favorite quotes from some of the differe...
As other reviews have said, this is a mixed bag, but I enjoyed a handful of these essays on being forty-something (or close to it, or just past) very much.Catherine Newman's "Soul Mates: A Timeline in Clothing" was both unique (a decades-long friendship told through fashion) and moving. Sloane Crosley's "What We Talk about When We Talk about Our Face" was very entertaining ("...so many beauty products, my toxicology report would read as if Ken Starr wrote it."). Ditto with Jill Kargman's "I Beca...