My Middle-Aged Baby Book: A Record of Milestones, Millstones & Gallstones [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

Mary-Lou Weisman (Author), Paul Meisel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 6, 1995

Congratulations, you middle-aged baby. Look what you've grown-baggy arms and knee flaps! And is that a new tooth-or just a lovely cap? And what month did the new hair come in across your ears? A tongue-in-cheek celebration of middle age in the form of a traditional fill-in baby book, my middle-aged baby book is a perfect keepsake for both women ("Is it hot in here or is it just me?") and men ("remember, it's prostate, not prostrate"). It's an irreverent take on the shared symptoms of growing older. Beginning with vital statistics (car phone number, cholesterol count), it provides a permanent place to record memorable Firsts--first liver spot, first espousal of conservative opinions-and a place to remember favorite toys such as the Jeep, rowing machine, and the big screen TV with VCR. There's a middle-aged baby's Horoscope, Favorite Nursery Rhymes, and The Seven Stages on Men's Hair Loss. Thoughtfully printed on anti-glare paper, in large, easy-to-read type, the book is illustrated throughout in full color. Paper over board, Full-color illustration throughout, 96 pages, 8" x 8" .

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"A perfect gift for middle-agers and those in denial." (Erma Bombeck)

MY FIRST READING GLASSES. MY FIRST GRAY HAIR. MY FIRST JEANS WITH AN ELASTIC WAIST...Just like babyhood, middle age is a time rich in memorable firsts, and chances are you'll forget them if you don't write them down. So to record those milestones for all prosperity, here is your very own middle-aged baby book, an invitation for every over-40 man to and woman to celebrate-who else?--yourself!

About the Author

Mary-Lou Weisman, a former columnist for the New York Times’s nationally syndicated “One Woman’s Voice” column, is a frequent contributor to The Atlantic Monthly, New York Magazine, Child, Vogue, Redbook, and Hysteria. She is the author of Traveling While Married and Intensive Care: A Family Love Story. She lives in Westport, Connecticut.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Workman Publishing Company (January 6, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563058170
• ISBN-13: 978-1563058172
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 8.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #683,541 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mary-Lou Weisman is an award-winning journalist and bestselling author. Her published books include My Baby Boomer Baby Book; Traveling While Married; My Middle-Aged Baby Book: A Record of Milestones, Millstones & Gallstones; and Intensive Care: A Family Love Story. All of her books remain in print. Her essays, feature articles, interviews, and film and book reviews have appeared in many publications, among them The New Republic, Newsweek, Glamour, Vogue, Atlantic Monthly, and the New York Times. She has also contributed essays and commentary to Public Radio International. She lives in Westport, Connecticut, with her husband, a lawyer. Mary-Lou Weisman and Al Jaffee have been friends for more than thirty years.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Middle-Agers need to be babied, too, October 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: My Middle-Aged Baby Book: A Record of Milestones, Millstones & Gallstones (Hardcover)

A clever book, one that I often give to aging boomer friends, along with copies of "Dave Barry Turns 50" and "Getting Old Sucks" by Ed Strnad. They all enjoy it.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Gag Gift for Those 45-65, July 14, 2000

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 110,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: My Middle-Aged Baby Book: A Record of Milestones, Millstones & Gallstones (Hardcover)

Why don't middle-aged people have fun? Perhaps because they don't yet have a Middle-Aged Baby Book to put them in the mood.

Almost every parent has filled out one of those baby books that includes birth time, weight, pictures from the hospital, first birthday party, favorite toys, and so on. Why shouldn't the middle aged have one, too? . . . Especially since their memories may be going, and this will be the only way to record their lives to remember what happened.

The satire is quite complete. Almost all of the baby book sections are put into a middle-aged context humorously for this version.

To begin setting the mood, the cover is padded like a baby book often is.

The author's acknowledgments include middle-aged amnesiacs who helped, the editor (Ruth . . . ?), gastroenterologist (Dr. Henry . . . ?), and husband ( . . . ?). If only she could remember their names!

You have a chance to make your own family tree (with humorous asides about the people on it), note your memorable firsts (colonoscopy, reading glasses), tell whether you are a girl or a boy ("Do you spend most of your time in front of the toilet, running water, or naked on the lawn, rolling in snow?"), describe your teething history (which ones are dead, bridges, implants, gold crowns, bonded, capped, and gone?), date important fashion firsts (when you gave up spandex, threw away your bikini, and started wearing shirts out of your pants), and put in samples of your hair (both colored and uncolored versions).

The book also has many humorous essays like the history of solid foods and weight (1993 -- Oprah loses 60 pounds. Pavarotti gains it.), I Forget, and Why? There are also middle-aged versions of many well-known nursery rhymes.

You can also add your favorite expressions (like, Where are my glasses?).

If you give this as a birthday gift, the birthday girl or boy can put in key facts of that day such as the price of a standard facelift in that year.

At the end, you'll find a living will. It gives your relatives authority to plant you when the time comes.

Even if you don't have the nerve to give this to anyone else, you should get a copy for yourself. It's the most humorous thing I've ever read about becoming middle-aged!

Get rid of your misconception stalls about middle age not being funny.

Donald Mitchell

Coauthor of The Irresistible Growth Enterprise (available in August 2000) and The 2,000 Percent Solution

([e-mail])

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A hilarious send-up on being middle-aged, February 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: My Middle-Aged Baby Book: A Record of Milestones, Millstones & Gallstones (Hardcover)

This is the funniest, smartest humor book I've read in ages. I give it to everyone, male or female, for any occasion whatsoever, although it makes a special hit at big 4-0, 5-0 and 6-0 birthday parties where it usually gets read out loud and is better than any entertainment you could hire. All the stuff in it -- middle-aged sex, middle-aged expressions, middle-aged concerns are right on the nose. I can't wait for the author to grow up at little more and see what she does with old age!