<p>Nan Narboe&#39;s 56 thoughtfully selected essays offer an intimate and lyrical account of aging through the decades.<strong><em>&nbsp;</em></strong></p>

<p>Authors&nbsp;Judy Blume, Andrew McCarthy, Gloria Steinem, Donald Hall, David Shields, Ursula K. Le Guin&nbsp;and others draw from their own experiences, describing a specific decade&rsquo;s losses and gains to form a complex and unflinching portrait of the years from nearing fifty to ninety and beyond.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In six sections, these detail-rich essays paint an accessible picture of nearing 50, the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, the 90s and beyond with equal parts humor and insight.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Drawing on seven decades worth of experiences, the selected essays offer a clear-eyed composition of narratives, each narrative as important as the one before it.&nbsp;In Paul Casey&#39;s 'Katie Couric Is No Friend of Mine,' a colonoscopy, not a red convertible, marks his initiation into mid-life. Germaine Koh, in 'Thoughts on Aging,' is the oldest player in her roller derby league, confounded by her changing body. Ursula K. Le Guin&rsquo;s 'Dogs, Cats, and Dancers: Thoughts about Beauty&rdquo; meditates on human self-consciousness&mdash;it is aging humans who find their bodies surprising. And in 'Death,' Donald Hall rejects euphemisms: he&rsquo;s not going to &ldquo;pass away;&rdquo; he&rsquo;s going to die.</p>