Customer Reviews

Breaking the Watch: The Meanings of Retirement in America

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Tired of reading just about the financial aspects of retirement or all about the myths of retirement? Hunger to know the in-depth experiences of those who have retired and spent some time looking at the process? Well, sociologist and anthropologist Joel Savishinsky has studied 13 women and 13 men who've recently retired with in-depth "participant-observer" interviews. Best of all, each chapter while dealing with experiences of the participants, is summarized with meaningful interpretations. The author is a good interviewer and writer and spent a good deal of time with his "subjects". Chapters focus on ending work, role changes, the search for meaningful purpose, relationships and health. I found this book lucid, easily applicable to my own retirement issues and a window into the experiences of many of my retired friends.

Looking for meaning in midlife and forward to retirement? Don't waste your time with this book. The author follows a select group of elderly people in a small town. It reads like a boring interview of people you don't know or care about on a public access tv station. Or a grad student researching a thesis. I literally threw the book in the garbage.