Book Review and Giveaway: Lastingness, The Art of Old Age by Nicholas Delbanco

About the Book:

America grows older yet stays focused on its young. Whatever hill we try to climb, we're "over" it by fifty and should that hill involve entertainment or athletics we're finished long before. But if younger is better, it doesn't 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, we're 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 America's most celebrated men of letters, profiles great geniuses in the fields of visual art, literature, and music-Monet, Verdi, O'Keeffe, 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.

About the Author:

Nicholas Delbanco's writing has earned him widespread recognition and many literary honors, including the Guggenheim Fellowship and two National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowships. He served as founding director of the Bennington Writing Workshops and, since 1985, has directed the MFA Writing Program at the University of Michigan, where he also administers the prestigious Hopwood Awards. Nicholas Delbanco makes his home in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with his wife and their two daughters.

Lastingness is available on Amazon.com

My Opinion:

This title appealed to me as I find myself erm, getting older. Not that I have any lasting talent to leave this world. But the concept is interesting - we are a culture that seems to revere youth and beauty yet it is experience and age that brings wisdom. I found the book to be very, very thought provoking especially when considering what might have happened had say Beethoven been able to hear or other great masters lived longer lives. Would they have given as much to the world or would their contributions have not occurred at all? See, thought provoking.

While not a page turner it is a book for an engaged reader and someone who would like to consider what constitutes "lastingness" and why some have it and others do not.

Thanks to Anna from Hachette Books I have one copy of Lastingness to give away.

How do you win? It's easy!

But first some rules:

US and Canada only

NO PO boxes

18 yrs older +

One book per household if you win

MANDATORY ENTRY:

Leave me your email address so I can contact you if you win.

EXTRA ENTRIES:

1. Follow my blog publicly. If you already follow, just say so. And thank you.
2. Follow me on twitter and tweet about the giveaway(one per day) - #Win @BrokenTeepee from @HachetteBooks Lastingness by Nicholas Delbanco @http://tinyurl.com/4m43ds6 #giveaway

3. Become a fan of Broken Teepee on Facebook

4. Share the giveaway using the share buttons at the end of the post (except StumbleUpon) - 1 entry for each share. Leave a separate comment for each

5. Stumble a non-giveaway post

SEE THE EXTRA ENTRIES PAGE FOR ADDITIONAL WAYS TO ENTER.

All entries need to be in by 9PM MST on February 13th when I will go to Random.org to choose the winner. He/she will have 48hrs to respond or I will choose a new winner.

Good luck everyone.

Disclosure:  I received a copy of Lastingness gratis. Any opinions expressed are my honest opinions and were not impacted by my receipt of the free book. I received no monetary compensation for this post.

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