Synopses & Reviews
From the
New York Times reporter whose beat is culture and ideas, a fascinating, revelatory and timely social history of the concept of middle age, from the late nineteenth century when the term “midlife” first entered the dictionary to the present.
For the first time in history, boomers, or the middle-aged, make up the largest, richest, and most influential segment of the country. A trillion-dollar economy —the “Midlife Industrial Complex”—has grown up feeding and fueling their needs, whims, and desires. Millions of federal dollars have been spent on scientific research into their habits, health, marriages, divorces, fears, and passions. Their concerns dominate the self-help shelves in bookstores, while their dramas flood Facebook and Twitter. For Americans living before the Civil War, this would be a baffling phenomenon—primarily because the idea of middle age hadn’t been conceived yet. In Our Prime is an illuminating biography of the idea of middle age from its invention to its current place at the center of American society.
Patricia Cohen cites cutting-edge science and decades-long studies to identify the varying forces that shape our understanding of middle age today. She traces the different definitions of middle age—biological, psychological, and sociological—and the different manifestations: from the figure in a mid-nineteenth century daguerreotype to the botoxed, face-lifted one hitting her prime in her 50s today. Cohen also dismantles some of the most stubborn myths about the middle years, such as the midlife crisis and the empty nest syndrome.
Fresh, hard-hitting, informative, and upbeat, In Our Prime puts anxiety about aging—for both men and women—into context and examines what it means both individually and culturally.
Review
“A lively, well-researched chronicle of the social and scientific forces that brought midlife America to its current befuddled state…”—Laura Shapiro, New York Times Book Review
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“A brilliant, wide-ranging book…Cohen’s lively prose and thoughtful insights make this a joy to read.”—Kate Tuttle, Boston Globe
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“In Our Prime is a fascinating study of this complex stage of life, a book whose appeal is likely to extend beyond the middle-age demographic to readers approaching or looking back on that key stage of life.”—Jerry Harkavy, Associated Press
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"Very fine...lucid, straightforward and conversational... a thorough--and
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“With lively writing, astute observations, and extensive research, this cultural history looks well beyond cougars and Botox.”—Karen Holt, Oprah.com
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“A thoroughly engaging cultural history…”—Christine Sismondo, Toronto Star
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“In Our Prime is a fascinating biography of the ‘idea of middle age’ in American society…Comprehensively researched…A thoughtful inquiry.”—Tom Lavoie, Shelf Awareness
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“A fascinating biography of the idea of middle age…solidly researched.”—Gail Sheehy, The New York Times
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“A comprehensive look at middle age through the eyes of scientists, historians, psychologists, medical doctors, marketers and many more.”—Julie Carl, Winnipeg Free Press
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“Witty and engaging…this comprehensive and entertaining social history highlights the possibilities of the middle years—and shows how middle age reflects the attitudes and customs of each generation that passes through it.”—Publishers Weekly
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“A cool, well-documented account that puts the concept of middle age into historical context.”—Kirkus Reviews
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“Very fine…lucid, straightforward and conversational… a thorough—and thoroughly fascinating—cultural history of aging.”—Julia Keller, Chicago Tribune
Synopsis
From New York Times reporter Patricia Cohen, a revelatory and timely book about "middle age," from the 19th century to the present.
Synopsis
From the New York Times reporter whose beat is culture and ideas comes a fascinating, revelatory, and timely social history of the concept of middle age. For the first time ever, the middle-aged make up the biggest, richest, and most influential segment of the country, yet the history of middle age has remained largely untold. This important and immensely readable book finally fills the gap. In Our Prime is a biography of the idea of middle age from its invention in the late nineteenth century to its current place at the center of American society, where it shapes the way we view our families, our professional obligations, and our inner lives. Patricia Cohen ranges over the entire landscape of midlife, exploring how its biological, psychological, and social definitions have shifted from one generation to the next. Middle age has been a symbol both of decline and of power and wealth. Explaining why, Cohen takes readers from early-twentieth-century factories that refused to hire middle-aged men to twenty-first-century high-tech laboratories where researchers are currently conducting cutting-edge experiments on the middle-aged brain and body.
About the Author
Patricia Cohen has been a New York Times reporter for thirteen years. She has also worked at The Washington Post, New York Newsday, and Rolling Stone. She has a BA from Cornell University and a graduate degree from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University.