43 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Humor Book of the Year, August 7, 2009
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.
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22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hits MUCH too close to home!, August 12, 2009
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.)
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55 of 67 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
"Desperately seeking approval...", September 29, 2009
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.
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