Frank Conroy, New York Times
"[This] book certainly makes you think..."

Kathleen Woodward, author of Aging and Its Discontents
"Bracing, deft, witty, unflappable, and disarming."

Mike Hepworth, Aging and Society
"In terms of breadth of vision, scholarly integrity, and the sheer exhilaration of her writing, Gullette's work is essential reading."

Book Description
Discovering the midlife progress novel, Gullette finds in recent fiction a pervasive tension between decline and a better ideology of aging. “Appropriately, she invites the reader to join the writers in their ‘therapeutic discourse.’”—Rosemary Franklin, American Literature “[This] book certainly makes you think. What is it that can happen in middle age to make it—as it is for many people—the clearest and sweetest time of life?”—Frank Conroy, New York Times "Bracing, deft, witty, unflappable, and disarming." —Kathleen Woodward, author of Aging and Its Discontents

About the Author
A pioneer in age studies and one of the most influential cultural critics of the midlife, Margaret Morganroth Gullette is also the author of the prize-winning Declining to Decline: Cultural Combat and the Politics of the Midlife. She is a Resident Scholar in Women's Studies at Brandeis.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Discovering the midlife progress novel in Safe at Last in the Middle Years, Gullette finds in recent fiction a pervasive tension between decline and a better ideology of aging. "Appropriately, she invites the reader to join the writers in their therapeutic discourse." (Rosemary Franklin, American Literature)

"[This] book certainly makes you think. What is it that can happen in middle age to make it—as it is for many people—the clearest and sweetest time of life?" (Frank Conroy, New York Times)

"Bracing, deft, witty, unflappable, and disarming." (Kathleen Woodward, author of Aging and Its Discontents)

"In terms of breadth of vision, scholarly integrity, and the sheer exhilaration of her writing, Gullette's work is essential reading." (Mike Hepworth, Aging and Society)

Author Bio: A pioneer in age studies and one of the most influential cultural critics of the midlife, Margaret Morganroth Gullette is also the author of the prize-winning Declining to Decline: Cultural Combat and the Politics of the Midlife. She is a Resident Scholar in Women's Studies at Brandeis.