This Is Getting Old: Zen Thoughts on Aging with Humor and Dignity

“Moon is like a Buddhist Anne Lamott—confronting her life bravely and unapologetically. Reading as a man in his mid-sixties, [I] welcomed her honest ambivalence about aging. Her style is conversational yet often beautifully vivid and clear.”

“A funny, honest, and deeply personal book. This collection of confessional essays makes for absorbing reading.”

“Refreshingly honest and enlightening. In this sterling collection of essays, Susan Moon looks at the rewards, blessings, drawbacks, and challenges of aging. We are so grateful that Moon has written this insightful book in which she passes on what all this has meant to her.”

“Gentle essays . . . long on dignity. Moon uses detail vividly in her determination to make peace with the many failures of brain and body (from forgetting her Social Security number to wondering if she’ll ever have sex again). Her best writing occurs when memory, emotion, and spirit coalesce as she recovers parts of herself left behind in childhood or comes to terms with solitude.”

“Moon shares stories of her journey, providing on each page the deep intimacy experienced with an old friend over a cup of tea, the kind that satisfies and leaves you wanting more. She plunges below the surface to explore grief, depression, loneliness, and peace, without losing her characteristic wry humor and infectious delight. And in the process, her stories become our stories.”

“[Moon] does not shy away from any aspect of aging, from sore knees to foggy memory, but also maintains a sassy sense of humor. Perhaps if more people were as open about aging as Moon is, we shouldn’t all be so uncomfortable with the idea. This is a great read for anyone pondering the future.”

“This is a book about aging, but it’s not at all depressing. Susan Moon is a very funny lady. Moon shows us aging in a breathtakingly honest way. I found that I liked her more and more as the book unfolded. This Is Getting Old is beautiful, warm . . . existential.”

“Moon’s stories are wonderful companions and guides as I go about my ordinary life.”

“Aging is the biggest issue facing me and everyone I know. This book is poignant, funny, and spot-on, and I am tremendously grateful to Susan Moon for writing it. I love this book!”

“This Is Getting Old is a sweet, mellow, funny, wise, sad, and deeply affecting book. Susan Moon's essays are so disarmingly honest, so personal and plain, that they will make you forget what an astonishingly rare and profound achievement this is.”

“This is one of those rare books that had me in tears one moment and laughing out loud the next. Susan Moon is a marvelous writer with a great sense of humor and deep insight into life. Moon’s writing has an intimacy, an aliveness, that I very much love.”