Passages: Predictable Crises of Adult Life [Unabridged] [Paperback]

Gail Sheehy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1984

At last, this is your story. You'll recognize yourself, your friends, and your loves. You'll see how to use each life crisis as an opportunity for creative change -- to grow to your full potential. Gail Sheehy's brilliant road map of adult life shows the inevitable personality and sexual changes we go through in our 20s, 30s, 40s, and beyond. The Trying 20s -- The safety of home left behind, we begin trying on life's uniforms and possible partners in search of the perfect fit. The Catch 30s -- illusions shaken, it's time to make, break, or deepen life commitments. The Forlorn 40s -- Dangerous years when the dreams of youth demand reassessment, men and women switch characteristics, sexual panic is common, but the greatest opportunity for self-discovery awaits. The Refreshed (or Resigned) 50s -- Best of life for those who let go old roles and find a renewal of purpose.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

At last, this is your story. You'll recognize yourself, your friends, and your loves. You'll see how to use each life crisis as an opportunity for creative change -- to grow to your full potential. Gail Sheehy's brilliant road map of adult life shows the inevitable personality and sexual changes we go through in our 20s, 30s, 40s, and beyond. The Trying 20s -- The safety of home left behind, we begin trying on life's uniforms and possible partners in search of the perfect fit. The Catch 30s -- illusions shaken, it's time to make, break, or deepen life commitments. The Forlorn 40s -- Dangerous years when the dreams of youth demand reassessment, men and women switch characteristics, sexual panic is common, but the greatest opportunity for self-discovery awaits. The Refreshed (or Resigned) 50s -- Best of life for those who let go old roles and find a renewal of purpose.

From the Inside Flap

At last, this is your story. You'll recognize yourself, your friends, and your loves. You'll see how to use each life crisis as an opportunity for creative change -- to grow to your full potential. Gail Sheehy's brilliant road map of adult life shows the inevitable personality and sexual changes we go through in our 20s, 30s, 40s, and beyond. The Trying 20s -- The safety of home left behind, we begin trying on life's uniforms and possible partners in search of the perfect fit. The Catch 30s -- illusions shaken, it's time to make, break, or deepen life commitments. The Forlorn 40s -- Dangerous years when the dreams of youth demand reassessment, men and women switch characteristics, sexual panic is common, but the greatest opportunity for self-discovery awaits. The Refreshed (or Resigned) 50s -- Best of life for those who let go old roles and find a renewal of purpose.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 564 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (July 1, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553271067
• ISBN-13: 978-0553271065
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #351,096 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very insightful - still relevant today, June 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Passages: Predictable Crises of Adult Life (Paperback)

At first I thought this book might not be relevant to me, some 20 years after it was written in a different country. Whilst some of the stereotypical behaviours and social "norms" are different, it is easy to see the translation of the insights to today and in a different country. And while the USA of the 70s is gone this book provided me with a better understanding of some of the (largely unconscious) behaviour of friends, parents and siblings, behaviours which I had not identified or simply taken for granted are now a little easier to fathom. As I read about each life stage I could identify it with those I know and this enabled me to forgive, empathise with and accept a lot which had previously left me hurt and baffled.

Although fairly young (35) I can already see some of the patterns at play which Gail describes. I don't care if it's not original work or if the lifetstyles are different and the social pressures altered, this book is still very applicable to those who can objectively view themselves and those around them.

This book looks at middle and upper middle class university graduates (called "college" graduates in the US) with primarily professional vocations in accounting, law, medicine etc (stangely little mention of engineers!). Also, I suspect the people are largely private school educated. Whilst people in other circustances might be under different pressures, I have seen similar crises and cycles in a wide range of people. A perceptive reader would learn from this book, nomatter their circumstances.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It finally makes sense, August 14, 2000

By 

Jose Solera (Durham, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Passages: Predictable Crises of Adult Life (Paperback)

After trying to figure out why the disenchantment with work as I hit 40, this book has explained it! Although some of the data used is out of date, the findings are still very valid.

I recommend it to those trying to figure out how to navigate through life.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Passages need to be passed first..., January 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Passages: Predictable Crises of Adult Life (Paperback)

I first read this book at the ancient age of 27, and it then had little relevency to my budding young life, my passages had been so few...now, at the age of 48, it all looks like a roadmap of my life, much of what Sheehy wrote now makes sense, now comes into focus, now jumps off the page at me...my suggestion is that the book needs to be updated, rewritten from the perspective of one who has actually made the "Passages"...still, the book is remarkable...either Sheehy is the most intuitive person who ever lived, or did research unknown at the time to man/woman...all in all, I find it a book best read once you've been there and done that...otherwise, it means little...unfortunately, I think, it is a work only appreciated in your own personal rearview mirror...reading it as a young man or woman might unduly influence how one's life plays out...but I have every intention of reading it again, and perhaps again...