Lastingness: The Art of Old Age

About this book

America grows older yet stays focused on its young. Whatever hill we try to climb were "over" it by fifty and should that hill involve entertainment or athletics were finished long before. But if younger is better it doesnt appear that youngest is best: we want our teachers doctors generals and presidents to have reached a certain age. In context after context and contest after contest were more than a little conflicted about elders of the tribe; when is it right to honor them and when to say "step aside"? In Lastingness Nicholas Delbanco one of Americas most celebrated men of letters profiles great geniuses in the fields of visual art literature and music-Monet Verdi OKeeffe Yeats among others - searching for the answers to why some artists work diminishes with age while others reaches its peak. Both an intellectual inquiry into the essence of aging and creativity and a personal journey of discovery this is a brilliant exploration of what determines what one needs to do to keep the habits of creation and achievement alive.