Writer, director, and producer Justine Bateman examines the aggressive ways that society reacts to the aging of women's faces.
Face: One Square Foot of Skin is a book of fictional vignettes that delves into the fear and evolutionary habits that have led to the belief that older women's faces are unattractive and undesirable.
Based on the experiences of the author and interviews with dozens of women and men, the book explores the root causes of society's negative attitudes toward aging women's faces. Bateman rejects the ingrained assumptions that older women's faces need to be "fixed," and suggests that we move beyond judging a woman's worth based on her face.
With passionate prose and a sharp eye, Bateman argues that a woman's confidence should grow as she ages, not be diminished by society's misguided attitudes about that one square foot of skin.
Our Souls at Night is a spare yet eloquent, bittersweet yet inspiring story of a man and a woman who, in advanced age, come together to wrestle with the events of their lives and their hopes for the imminent future.
In the familiar setting of Holt, Colorado, home to all of Kent Haruf's inimitable fiction, Addie Moore pays an unexpected visit to a neighbor, Louis Waters. Her husband died years ago, as did his wife, and in such a small town they naturally have known of each other for decades; in fact, Addie was quite fond of Louis's wife.
His daughter lives hours away in Colorado Springs, her son even farther away in Grand Junction, and Addie and Louis have long been living alone in houses now empty of family, the nights so terribly lonely, especially with no one to talk with.
Their brave adventures—their pleasures and their difficulties—are hugely involving and truly resonant, making Our Souls at Night the perfect final installment to this beloved writer's enduring contribution to American literature.
Life Gets Better challenges the common perception of aging as a period of decline. Instead, it offers a fresh perspective, highlighting the unexpected pleasures and rewards that come with growing older.
Author Wendy Lustbader, a seasoned social worker, shares her firsthand research and insights from elderly individuals across various walks of life. These stories reveal that aging often brings increased self-knowledge, confidence, and spiritual awareness.
Rather than a decline from youth, many find themselves happier, more courageous, and more true to their inner selves as they age. The book is a hopeful corrective to the often negative portrayal of aging, suggesting that the best years may actually lie ahead.
As one eighty-six-year-old contributor notes, "For me, being old is the reward for outlasting all the big and little problems that happen to all of us along life's pathway."