How to Age (The School of Life) Paperback – January 6, 2015

I found this book inspiring and full of further references to more reading and research. From someone just beginning to discover the anti-age messages for everyone out there in the Western world, it contained refreshing, intelligent and profound tidbits. I loved it, it gave me comfort, and confidence to continue to believe that somewhere out there are still thoughtful, thinking people who not only have brains but even use them! We need more books and information like this, everyone gets older, it isn't a disease, it isn't awful, it's part of life that has almost become taboo.

Really enjoyed the book! Want to get more of the Life series.

Great book! Very enlightening, even for someone like me who thought I was aware of ageism in all its forms, but had much more to learn. I will be sharing this book with everyone I know, and even those I don't--because we have so much further to go as a society/culture in terms of educating people.

I guess it is all about common sense and the same old approaches I could see here and there. Average.

El mejor libro que he leído sobre el envejecimiento. Una vision distinta, seria, profesional, científica y muy muy optimista y alentadora.

A careful and subtly triumphant guide to reprogramming our minds to radically accept loss but not decline. In fact, that's one of the lifechanging suggestions that Karpf posits after presenting ample evidence: loss, inevitable within our narratives of life, does not dictate decline. Loss can, in fact, refine or even improve.Karpf confronts many unspoken toxins lurking in our Western notions of aging on these pages, and she initiates healing. This is definitely in the right Series: "the school of life."

The book starts out well and the writing is quite elegant. Probably I would have liked more about the grieving process and less about how society treats old people. In general it is a fairly interesting book on a difficult subject. Don't be fooled by the title. It isn't a "How to" book at all. More of an overview about the aging process.

Inspiring, lots of different point of views, motivated me to tackle this not always easy topic pro-actively- and very enjoyable to read :-) I can highly recommend "How to age" by Anne Karpf.

Anne Karpf fills this small book with anecdotes, history, and context to aging in the 21st century. I had laughs and ah ha moments and embraced the reality of aging. Thumbs up!

Je me suis senti un peu ridicule à lire ce livre à l'approche de ma trentaine, et pourtant je dois admettre qu'une certaine peur de vieillir s'installe (accentuée par ma démographie forcément). Ce petit livre est venu me rassurer doucement sur beaucoup de points. Certes on ne calme pas une anxiété en quelques pages, mais l'on peut apercevoir certaines pistes et commencer à se rassurer, et finalement parfois c'est tout ce qu'on a besoin, une main tendue qui nous emmène doucement vers le chemin qui s'annonce devant nous. Et pouvoir se dire que beaucoup de choses nous attendent encore et qu'avoir peur de vieillir n'a au final aucun fondement réel si ce n'est l'image que la société veut forcer en nous, alors que ce n'est qu'un long voyage où l'on ne cesse au final de grandir. Et que l'on aura toujours éternellement 18 ans. Et 25. Et 27. Et 29..."If we're able to give ourselves the permission to grow older but at the same time resist the myths about ageing, then the gift we receive in return is invaluable: the ability to position ourselves in a whole lifespan, and see the integrity of a human life, however short or long it might be."

I bought this book for my father. This is not exactly a self help book. And, it is not exactly for the ageing or aged people. It presents a view of how to look at the ageing process, whether one is 30 or 80. It is an interesting read.

A rich and ultimately inspiring, consideration of ageing. Anne Karpf writes engagingly and plants very interesting ideas which - for me at least - keep on growing after the book is done. Fun to read, brief and to the point, but followed with suggestions for further reading ('Homework'). I'd recommend this to anyone from late teens on who is interested in thinking about their life and development.Style-wise, the book has rounded corners (in the manner of a moleskine notebook) and lots of photos, printed in black and white alongside the text on the matt pages. Clearly shooting at an intellectualism of look, rather than risk drowning among the oceans of self-help, this book lives up to its intellectual promise - but you'll get some help for yourself as a bonus.

A good book to start one thinking seriously about aging