Making the Best of What's Left: When We're Too Old to Get the Chairs Reupholstered

Judith Viorst

Book cover for Making the Best of What's Left: When We're Too Old to Get the Chairs Reupholstered
Book cover for Making the Best of What's Left: When We're Too Old to Get the Chairs Reupholstered

Making the Best of What's Left: When We're Too Old to Get the Chairs Reupholstered

Making the Best of What's Left: When We're Too Old to Get the Chairs Reupholstered

Judith Viorst

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Description

From the bestselling author Judith Viorst comes a witty and poignant exploration of the joys and sorrows of life's twilight years--one that leaves us laughing, pondering, and grateful for the moments we have left.

In a career that has spanned more than fifty years, Judith Viorst has captivated readers with her bestselling children's books and collections of poetry reflecting on each decade of life. Now in her nineties, Viorst writes about life's "Final Fifth," those who are eighty to one hundred years old. Her signature blend of humor and vulnerability infuses personal anecdotes and observations, drawing you into her world of memories and candid conversations.

She confesses, "I never ever send a text while driving, and not just because I don't know how to text." She discusses the afterlife (She doesn't believe in it, but if it exists, she hopes her sister-in-law isn't there). She complains to her dead husband ("I need you fixing our damn circuit breakers. I need you! Could you please stop being dead?"). And she explores the late-life meanings of wisdom and happiness and second chances and home.

With a wit that defies age, Viorst navigates the terrain of loss. It's a poignant dance between grief and levity that will resonate with those in their Final Fifth as well as anyone who has parents, relatives, or friends in their eighties and beyond. This is Judith Viorst at her best.

Critical Reviews

"Judith Viorst has chronicled our century with wit, wisdom and an unflinching eye for the agonies and absurdities of ordinary family life. Now in her nineties, and in the shadow of her husband's recent death, she offers an exhilarating meditation on final chapters: how to grasp the richness and grace that remains, even as much slips away."--Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Memorial Days and March

"Writer and poet Viorst may be in what she calls the 'Final Fifth of Life, ' but she's every bit as witty and observant as she always was. . . . Readers of a similar age will be nodding along and be reminded to be grateful for the time they have left."-- "Booklist (starred review)"

"The great humorist, poet, and observer of life passages turns her attention to the 'Final Fifth' of life. . . . We should all be in such fine form in our 10th decade. Viorst is as charming, and smart, as ever."-- "Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"

Publishing Information

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pub date: 2025-04-01
Length: 192 pages

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