How Not To Act Old is probably the answer—on this side of the pond—to Why French Women Don’t Get Fat.
Over a cup of coffee at the local Barnes and Noble, Pamela Redmond Satran’s book is just the antidote to a slushy day spent in faded sweats and sneakers. The cover features a clothesline hung with lingerie—one, a pair of cotton panties dotted with an overall fussy print, and the other, a wild animal-print bikini. Although the book covers several other topics, it is clear that the author knows her readers.
Forget the 1960’s, Satran, an experienced journalist, says briskly. Too much nostalgia can keep us from more important things, like remembering not to use the index finger to punch numbers on a cell phone. Thumbs are for that. And, we are cautioned, try not to have to put on reading glasses to see the numbers.
Also, she notes, those of us who are with it don’t use watches (as in her chapter “Unstrap that Rolex”), because we can get the time from cell phones, too, flipping the case open with our thumbs.
For parents talking to their grownup kids about the grandkids, Satran offers a list of things not to say. These include gems like these:
- You named him WHAT?
- Maybe she should be wearing a hat.
- Wow, you look ready to pop.
- God, you look miserable.
- Is that stroller really comfortable?
- Is this your last one?
For those who forget that they are interesting and that so is the person they are talking with, Satran also offers “Five things to talk about instead of your kids.”
And she counsels readers not to use weekend hours to cook ahead for the entire week or to pay bills, and perhaps most pertinent to the cover illustration, not to fear a bikini wax.
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