Still Alive: A Temporary Condition

ÒOld age is a shipwreck,Ó Charles de Gaulle once observed. Not so, says Herb Gold in this lively, often hilarious memoir of his first seven decades. He is clearly enjoying every moment to the fullest. This is a book about how time overtakes us, how reminiscence, loss, hope, pain, success, failureÑthe lifelong accumulation of dreams and realityÑcrowd about us with every passing day. Combining a fascinating selection of people, places, and key events from a long life into the alembic of his ever-fertile imagination, Gold has distilled gold from his uncanny ability to recall conversations, anecdotes, atmosphere, and telling detail. In this age of overheated memoirs, STILL ALIVE! will surely find its way to a grateful audience both young and young at heart.

Herbert Gold was born and raised in Cleveland, but rose to national fame with his roman ^ clef Fathers. Both a longtime chronicler of and participant in the Beat movement, he lives in San Francisco.