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Aging Well: Surprising Guideposts to a Happier Life from the Landmark Harvard Study of Adult Development
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 305.260973
EAN: 9780316090070
ISBN: 0316090077
Label: Little, Brown and Company
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 384
Publication Date: January 08, 2003
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Studio: Little, Brown and Company
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Editorial Review:
"We all need models for how to live from retirement to past 80--with joy," writes George Vaillant, M.D., director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development. This groundbreaking book pulls together data from three separate longevity studies that, beginning in their teens, followed 824 individuals for more than 50 years. The subjects were male Harvard graduates; inner-city, disadvantaged males; and intellectually gifted women.
"Here you have these wonderful files, and you seem little interested in how we cope with increasing age ... our adaptability, our zest for life," one of these subjects wrote to Vaillant, a researcher, psychiatrist, and Harvard Medical School professor, about how he was using this information. Vaillant took this advice to heart. In Aging Well, he presents personal narratives about people from these studies whom he interviewed personally in their 70s and 80s. He describes their history, relationships, hardships, philosophies, and sources of joy. We learn their perspectives and what makes them want to get up in the morning.
We also learn what makes old age vital and interesting. Vaillant discusses the important adult developmental tasks, such as identity, intimacy, and generativity (giving to the next generation), and provides important clues to a healthy, meaningful, satisfying old age. Health in old age, we learn, is not predicted by low cholesterol or ancestral longevity, but by factors such as a stable marriage, adaptive coping style (the ability to make lemonade out of life's lemons), and regular exercise.
Vaillant is empathetic and sometimes surprisingly poetic: "Owning an old brain, you see, is rather like owning an old car.... Careful driving and maintenance are everything." He freely includes subjective observations and interpretations, giving us a richer picture of the people he interviewed and insights into their lives. Aging Well is recommended for readers who are interested in learning about the quality-of-life issues of aging from the people who have the most to teach. --Joan Price
"We all need models for how to live from retirement to past 80--with joy," writes George Vaillant, M.D., director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development. This groundbreaking book pulls together data from three separate longevity studies that, beginning in their teens, followed 824 individuals for more than 50 years. The subjects were male Harvard graduates; inner-city, disadvantaged males; and intellectually gifted women. "Here you have these wonderful files, and you seem little interested in how we cope with increasing age ... our adaptability, our zest for life," one of these subjects wrote to Vaillant, a researcher, psychiatrist, and Harvard Medical School professor, about how he was using this information. Vaillant took this advice to heart. In Aging Well, he presents personal narratives about people from these studies whom he interviewed personally in their 70s and 80s. He describes their history, relationships, hardships, philosophies, and sources of joy. We learn their perspectives and what makes them want to get up in the morning. We also learn what makes old age vital and interesting. Vaillant discusses the important adult developmental tasks, such as identity, intimacy, and generativity (giving to the next generation), and provides important clues to a healthy, meaningful, satisfying old age. Health in old age, we learn, is not predicted by low cholesterol or ancestral longevity, but by factors such as a stable marriage, adaptive coping style (the ability to make lemonade out of life's lemons), and regular exercise.Vaillant is empathetic and sometimes surprisingly poetic: "Owning an old brain, you see, is rather like owning an old car.... Careful driving and maintenance are everything." He freely includes subjective observations and interpretations, giving us a richer picture of the people he interviewed and insights into their lives. Aging Well is recommended for readers who are interested in learning about the quality-of-life issues of aging from the people who have the most to teach. --Joan Price
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Well worth reading, especially for readers in their 30s and 40s
This is one of my favorite books for two reasons: It summarizes some extremely interesting research, and I have great respect for the author, George Vaillant, M.D., who has a long-term interest in adult development and psychological coping. I do not know him personally, but as a psychiatrist I have been familiar with his work since the 1970s.
The research involves almost 1000 men and women who were closely studied intermittently for decades, so that the findings are prospective (as opposed ... Read More
Rating: - Really good read...
I bought this book as a textbook for a college class. It is very informative and the style is good. It's perspective is interesting and it puts a lot of pieces of the aging puzzle together. There are a lot of tips and tasks and things to think about and plan for for aging well and the book is worth it for that. But if you despise long drawn out personal narratives, this one's not for you.
Rating: - Great Study ...
Found the book to be both interesting and informative. Happier is better...and should be the goal for our seniors.
Rating: - Very Good
The book is very good, in fact it's the best review of how to get old well ever wrot, the amazon work well , was perfect in everything.
Rating:  - Aging Well is helpful
The most useful information I found was the four areas listed for seniors to follow in later life. The recommendations were based on several comprehensive studies which followed people throughout their lifetimes. I did find it odd that in the beginning the author completely overlooked work done by Abraham Maslow many years ago, and instead insisted that he (the author) had been the first to study healthy people. This, however, was a small thing overall and didn't take away from the relevance of the information.
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