Synopses & Reviews
So your memory's not what it used to be? You forget people's names, or what you were just about to say, or why you went into the kitchen. Often you forget where you left your keys (your wallet, your glasses, your list of Things to Do Tomorrow). And you worry. You wonder: Could this mean I am losing it? Join the crowd, friend. there are seventy-eight million baby boomers in the country, and memory loss is the number one concern of the boomer generation. The Worried Well, specialists call them. They worry because they do not know that most memory lapses that begin in middle age are universal and normal. Award-winning journalist Martha Lear, who gave voice to widespread frustration with medical care in her New York Times bestselling memoir Heartsounds, now explores this kind of forgetfulness--why it happens, and when, and what can be done about it. She interviews distinguished neuroscientists, psychologists, and evolutionary biologists, as well as friends and strangers about their own memory lapses. Interweaving dramatic new findings from brain-scan studies with often-hilarious anecdotes, Lear covers topics as fresh and provocative as the upside of memory loss, the differences between His and Her memories, why we are actually wired to forget, and what the future holds for memory enhancement (you can't imagine what's in store). You'll learn things you never knew before about why your memory behaves in such maddening ways. You'll find comfort and reassurance. And you'll probably find yourself on every page.PRAISE FOR WHERE DID I LEAVE MY GLASSES?Oh how loved this book Rarely do you find one that informs as it entertains; Martha Lear does both. I laughed out loud and was reassured to knowthat when my friends and I forget names (as we so often do), it's normal --Mary Tyler MooreWith wit, insight, and comfort, Martha Weinman Lear takes you through the embarrassments and hilarities of dealing with normal memory loss. --Ethel S. Person, MD, professor of psychiatry and member of the Center for Psychoanyltic Training & Research, Columbia UniversityHallelujah, it's not Alzheimer's It's Normal Memory Loss, and everyone over thirty must read WHERE DID I LEAVE MY GLASSES? by what's-her-name. --Patricia Volk, author of To My Dearest Friends and Stuffed
Synopsis
So your memory's not what it used to be? You forget people's names, or what you were just about to say, or why you went into the kitchen. Often you forget where you left your keys (your wallet, your glasses, your list of Things to Do Tomorrow). And you worry. You wonder: Could this mean I am losing it? Join the crowd, friend. there are seventy-eight million baby boomers in the country, and memory loss is the number one concern of the boomer generation. The Worried Well, specialists call them. They worry because they do not know that most memory lapses that begin in middle age are universal and normal. Award-winning journalist Martha Lear, who gave voice to widespread frustration with medical care in her New York Times bestselling memoir Heartsounds, now explores this kind of forgetfulness--why it happens, and when, and what can be done about it. She interviews distinguished neuroscientists, psychologists, and evolutionary biologists, as well as friends and strangers about their own memory lapses. Interweaving dramatic new findings from brain-scan studies with often-hilarious anecdotes, Lear covers topics as fresh and provocative as the upside of memory loss, the differences between His and Her memories, why we are actually wired to forget, and what the future holds for memory enhancement (you can't imagine what's in store). You'll learn things you never knew before about why your memory behaves in such maddening ways. You'll find comfort and reassurance. And you'll probably find yourself on every page.
Synopsis
For any Baby Boomer who has ever said, "Has anyone seen my keys?"..."What did I come in here for?"...or "His name is on the tip of my tongue," WHERE DID I LEAVE MY GLASSES? is the tailor-made book. According to Martha Weinman Lear and the top memory experts she taps in the book, the memory lapses that begin in middle age are typically no cause for alarm. In other words: You're normal! In fact, remembering less in later years is rarely a sign of Alzheimer's or any other scary memory-loss condition. It's just a part of normal aging.
On her hunt for answers, Lear explores why names are the first things to go and what can be done about it, why we forget certain things on purpose, why we forget more than our parents did and in which cases our brains are actually doing us a favor by letting go of certain knowledge. Weaving together fascinating insight from psychologists, neuroscientists, and evolutionary biologists with rich and often hilarious anecdotes, Lear explores the whys and wherefores of garden-varuiety memory loss, and, in the process, offers reassurance and hope to the millions of forgetful baby boomers.
About the Author
Martha Weinman Lear authored two bestselling books, Heartsounds (which was made into a Peabody award-winning film) and The Child Worshipers. A former staff writer for the New York Times Magazine, Lear continues to write articles for national magazines. She lives in New York City with her husband, screenwriter Alan Ruben.