A Long Time Coming: essays on old age

Description

To live a long life should be a joy; to be old should not be a burden. With improved health care and higher standards of living, each generation is living longer than the last. Governments see our ageing population as an imminent disaster, and old age as a medical problem. We are encouraged to remain active, stay healthy, and work longer - in short, to refuse becoming old. But if living longer is really about staying young, do we risk turning a blind eye to issues facing the elderly? Weaving interviews with research and memoir, Joosten undertakes a timely and clear-sighted investigation into the housing crisis as it affects older people, the politics of nursing-home care, the difficulties of dementia, support services for Indigenous Australians, and how the burden of caring for others can fall disproportionately on women. Moving, passionate, and urgent, A Long Time Coming is a call for empathy in a society that valorises youth and self-reliance - a profound reminder that everyone has the right to be old.

Melanie Joosten works at the National Ageing Research Institute in Melbourne. Her debut novel, Berlin Syndrome, saw her named a Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Novelist and receive the Kathleen Mitchell Award; it will be released as a major motion picture in 2016. Melanie holds a Master of Arts and a Master of Social Work. Her work appears in various publications, including Meanjin, Kill Your Darlings, Best Australian Stories 2014, and Going Down Swinging.

'Joosten smashes through our over-sentimentalised ways of talking about old age.' - Maria Tumarkin;'Thoughtful and honest, this book is a reminder to cherish our elders.' - Dr Ranjana Srivastava, author of Tell Me the Truth;[A] fine collection ... shows deep commitment and quite profound levels of insight and compassion.' - Weekend Australian;'Heartening ... [Joosten has] a novelist's feel for the texture of life.' - Fiona Capp, Sydney Morning Herald;'ivid and surprising ... This eloquent collection advocates for the elderly.' - Sydney Review of Books;'a powerful collection of essays exploring what it means to grow old' - Australian Ageing Agenda;'well written, brimming with empathy ... a thoughtful work by a writer whose social work commitment arose from "a feeling of obligation towards those who do not have the opportunities I have had" ... This book pulls no punches, making it another valuable contribution to the debate we need to have.' - GP Speak