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'What’s the key to the art of growing older well? Is it an art that anyone can cultivate? How should we confront dying and death in a secular age? What about sex when we’re older? What about loneliness? (And, for that matter, what about facelifts?)
'At the height of his powers in this remarkable (and often witty) book, Robert Dessaix addresses these increasingly urgent questions in inimitable prose and comes up with some surprising answers. From Java to Hobart via Berlin, Dessaix invites us to eavesdrop on his intimate, no-nonsense conversations about ageing with friends and chance acquaintances.
'Reflecting on time, religion, painting, dancing and even grandchildren, Dessaix takes us on an enlivening journey across the landscape of growing older. Riffing on writers and thinkers from Plato to Eva Hoffman, he homes in on the crucial importance of a rich inner life.
'The Time of Our Lives is a wise and timely exploration of not just the challenges but also the many possibilities of old age.' (Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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NRB Readers’ Top 10 for 2020
2020
single work
column
— Appears in: The Newtown Review of Books , December 2020; -
Review : Robert Dessaix on Growing Older Well — a Genial Journey through a Rich Inner World
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 19 October 2020;
— Review of The Time of Our Lives 2020 multi chapter work prose'How does one grow old well? Perhaps only by starting to do it early. But who wants to prepare for old age in their youth? I didn’t, and I suspect no one I knew then was doing that either.' (Publication summary)
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Robert Dessaix : The Time of Our Lives
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: The Newtown Review of Books , October 2020;
— Review of The Time of Our Lives 2020 multi chapter work prose'In The Time of Our Lives Robert Dessaix ponders approaches to ageing, and does so with ‘unending playful curiosity’.' (Introduction)
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Broken Hips and Painful Feet : Reching Une Belle Vieillesse
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , October no. 425 2020; (p. 37-38)
— Review of The Time of Our Lives 2020 multi chapter work prose'In the garden of a hotel twenty minutes from Yogyakarta, a group of hopeful, middle-aged Westerners gyrate anxiously to the strains of LaBelle’s greatest hit. Unlike their young Balinese instructor, they are fighting a losing battle. Why bother? Robert Dessaix wonders. Next morning, his travelling companion answers in her husky smoker’s growl, ‘It’s death they’re afraid of – or at least dying.’' (Introduction)
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Never Too Old
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 3 October 2020; (p. 14)
— Review of The Time of Our Lives 2020 multi chapter work prose
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[Review] The Time of Our Lives
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: The Monthly , October no. 171 2020; (p. 64)
— Review of The Time of Our Lives 2020 multi chapter work prose -
Never Too Old
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 3 October 2020; (p. 14)
— Review of The Time of Our Lives 2020 multi chapter work prose -
Broken Hips and Painful Feet : Reching Une Belle Vieillesse
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , October no. 425 2020; (p. 37-38)
— Review of The Time of Our Lives 2020 multi chapter work prose'In the garden of a hotel twenty minutes from Yogyakarta, a group of hopeful, middle-aged Westerners gyrate anxiously to the strains of LaBelle’s greatest hit. Unlike their young Balinese instructor, they are fighting a losing battle. Why bother? Robert Dessaix wonders. Next morning, his travelling companion answers in her husky smoker’s growl, ‘It’s death they’re afraid of – or at least dying.’' (Introduction)
-
Robert Dessaix : The Time of Our Lives
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: The Newtown Review of Books , October 2020;
— Review of The Time of Our Lives 2020 multi chapter work prose'In The Time of Our Lives Robert Dessaix ponders approaches to ageing, and does so with ‘unending playful curiosity’.' (Introduction)
-
Review : Robert Dessaix on Growing Older Well — a Genial Journey through a Rich Inner World
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 19 October 2020;
— Review of The Time of Our Lives 2020 multi chapter work prose'How does one grow old well? Perhaps only by starting to do it early. But who wants to prepare for old age in their youth? I didn’t, and I suspect no one I knew then was doing that either.' (Publication summary)
-
NRB Readers’ Top 10 for 2020
2020
single work
column
— Appears in: The Newtown Review of Books , December 2020;
