How Not to Act Old: 185 Ways to Pass for Phat, Sick, Hot, Dope, Awesome, or at Least Not Totally Lame [Paperback]

Pamela Redmond Satran (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 4, 2009

How to be cool when you're afraid you've forgotten how . . .

Sure, you can try to stay younger by exercising, coloring your hair, and wearing stylish clothes—but how do you respond when someone asks, "Do you Twitter?" How Not to Act Old gives you simple ways to come back from over the hill and to act as young as you look.

Covering everything from old-people entertainment (cancel that dinner party!) to old-people communication (it's called a "voice mail," not a "message," and no one leaves or listens to them anyway), Pamela Redmond Satran decodes the behaviors, viewpoints, and cultural touchstones that separate you from the hip young person you wish you still were. This irreverent guide is essential for anyone who doesn't want to embarrass their kids—or themselves.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A welcome jolt of fresh wit: wryly, smartly, and crisply devoted to the subject that dare not speak its name among those of us who fully expected, against all odds, to never become unhip. With How Not To Act Old, we’ll get our wish.” (Sheila Weller, author of the New York Times bestseller Girls Like Us )

“Shimmers with a multitude of wise and hilarious insights on the pitfalls of acting your age. Don’t just read it, memorize it. And buy it for everyone you love. It’s original and brilliant! ” (Dorothea Benton Frank, New York Times bestselling author )

About the Author

Pamela Redmond Satran is the author of five novels and the coauthor of many bestselling baby name books, as well as the creator of nameberry.com. A columnist for Glamour, she writes frequently for the New York Times, The Daily Beast, and The Huffington Post. She lives not all that far from Brooklyn and plans to act thirty-three forever.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks; 1 Original edition (August 4, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061771309
• ISBN-13: 978-0061771309
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #396,406 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm the New York Times bestselling author of a new novel, The Possibility of You; a new nonfiction book, Glamour's 30 Things Every Woman Should Have & Should Know By The Time She's 30; and a forthcoming humor book, Rabid: Are You Crazy About Your Dog or Just Crazy? I'm also the co-creator of the million-visitor website Nameberry.com and the coauthor of ten bestselling books about names. A columnist for Glamour and frequent contributor to The Huffington Post, The Daily Beast, and More Magazine, my husband journalist Richard Satran and I are the parents of three children.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 51 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Humor Book of the Year August 7, 2009

By Christina Baker Kline

Format:Paperback

You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll tell all your friends to run out and buy it. How Not to Act Old is an instruction manual and life coach in book form for baby boomers trying desperately to stay cool, and their Evil Young progeny who make fun of them. Even those of us who like to believe (okay, delude ourselves) that we know what's going on will recognize ourselves in Satran's witty, shrewd, razor-sharp observations. And to be clear: Satran's not really suggesting that we give up dancing to Springsteen or drinking vodka, only that we understand that a whole new generation is watching and snickering. We used to be them, and now we're not. This is the funniest book I've read all year.

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Hits MUCH too close to home! August 12, 2009

By Barbara

Format:Paperback

Oh, Pamela Redmond Satran, did you secretly interview BOTH my 20-something daughters before writing this book? I won't let them see your hilarious and painfully true book because you confirm everything they've ever said to me. I don't think I could handle hearing "What did we TELL you?" that many times. I will, however, consider figuring out how to use my cellphone, re-think my notion of "dress shoes" and maybe even give up the Cosmopolitan in favor of the Kamikaze. I may even try to sleep past 6:30 AM on weekends. (At least I'll be savvy enough to avoid sending any incriminating time-stamped e-mails if I fail.)

62 of 76 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars "Desperately seeking approval..." September 29, 2009

By Persephone

Format:Paperback

Granted that many people seem to find this a spoof, a send-up, and so on, I think a social scientist would have a field day analyzing the attitudes that inform this exercise.

In the first place, everything is couched in terms of pop culture, which assumes that those are the only earmarks by which to measure how with-it someone is.

In the second place, I'm not sure who the beneficiary of this advice is. One's (old?) peers would dress and act the same out-of-it way, and the young will not be fooled into thinking you are also young, no matter where your jeans fit on your waist...or not.

In the third place, it's always been the privilege of youth to have its own code words, its own dress style, its own music, and so on---an exclusive club. Gate crashers are not welcome, and are quickly identified as bogus.

In the fourth place, age has its own status if one has real achievements, and a self-confidence that can't be bought any other way. That in itself is sexy.

Finally, the author betrayed her own lack of hipness when she listed a turtleneck as something no one should ever wear, lest it betray old-fogey-ness. Tell it to Steve Jobs, who is about the coolest guy on the planet and who invented iPods and all the rest of the hip new gadgets.