The Time of Our Lives: Growing older well

Description

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.

Robert Dessaix is best-known as a writer of literary non-fiction (memoirs, essays and autobiography), but has also published two novels, several short stories and one play. From 1985 to 1995, after teaching Russian language and literature for many years at the ANU and the University of NSW, he presented the weekly 'Books and Writing' program on ABC Radio National. His most widely read books, all translated into several European languages, are his autobiography A Mother's Disgrace, the novels Night Letters and Corfu, and two collections of essays and short stories: (and so forth) and As I Was Saying. His travel memoirs Twilight of Love grew out of a fascination with Russian literature, while Arabesques explores the life of the French writer Andre Gide. His latest books are the memoirs What Days Are For, set in a hospital ward after a heart attack, The Pleasures of Leisure and now The Time of Our Lives on growing older well. He has also published translations of works by Dostoyevsky, Turgenev and a number of Russian poets. His translations of plays by Anton Chekhov have been produced in theatres around Australia. A full-time writer since 1995, Robert Dessaix lives in Hobart, Tasmania.