Amazon.com Review
The perpetually young are different from you and me, suggests Dr. Weeks. Yes, you may be tempted to reply, they're luckier. And, indeed, in reporting on his extensive studies of why some people appear many years younger than their chronological age, Dr. Weeks does note that it helps to have the right genetics (choose your parents wisely, in other words). But there's more to it than that: People whose age is routinely underestimated by a decade or more also tend to make different lifestyle choices (more exercise and adventure, more sleep, less television), reproduce less (about 15 percent remain childless), and cope better with stressful life events.
Surprisingly, Dr. Weeks didn't find that the eternally youthful were teetotalers or ascetics. Yes, a somewhat large percentage were vegetarians, and just 1 in 20 smoked, but he also found hard drinkers and major meat eaters among his "superyoung." He also found somewhat goofy distinctions. For example, being shorter makes people assume you're younger than you are (time to get rid of those elevator shoes).
There's a lot of advice you can follow here regarding health and fitness (improve your posture and you decrease your apparent age) and style (it helps to have some). And Dr. Weeks isn't afraid to say there are disadvantages to appearing a lot younger than you are: People take you less seriously in many professions, and there's a distinct chance you'll embarrass your children by appearing to be one of them rather than one of their progenitors. If those are tradeoffs you can live with, then this is the book for you.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Weeks, a clinical neuropsychologist, and James, a science journalist, have teamed up again (after Eccentrics, 1995) for a look at variations in the way people age, with their findings based in large part on the "superyoung" project, involving extensive samplings from questionnaires, and interviews. Their focus is on "the superyoung?the fortunate few who look, act, think and feel years, sometimes decades, younger than the age on their drivers' licenses." Unfortunately, the authors seem to confuse correlation with causation, implying that life is nearly uniformly better for those who look and act younger than their age, when the real-life stories they present in fact reveal that while the "superyoung" share a passion for life, there is for them wide variation in lifestyle. Rather than providing profound insight about the real nature of the much-coveted quality of youthfulness, the authors rely too much on sunny interviews with their study subjects and various celebrities like Ben Bradlee, Angela Lansbury and Jack LaLanne. The first half of their book describes characteristics of the superyoung and Western society's views on aging. The second half provides advice on how readers might join the ranks of the superyoung. But little fresh material is presented there: exercise your body and mind, the authors advise; eat well, reduce stress, enjoy sex, be happy. Despite a valiant attempt at scientific evaluation, there is no fountain of wisdom about youthfulness to be found here.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
