More Rules for Aging: Making the Most of Your Ridiculous, Wondrous Life

A perfect dose of wisdom and wit for anyone who refuses to age quietly

Roger Rosenblatt’s Rules for Aging was a major national bestseller when it burst onto the scene “the humorous, thinking man’s self-help book” (Newsday) twenty-five years ago. Now, Roger is back with even more bang. More Rules for Aging contains nearly twice as many rules, so is nearly twice as instructive and nearly twice as funny.

As with the original, the laughs engendered are laughs at oneself: “Nobody is thinking about you,” “Run when they say, ‘We must do this again,’” et al. The key to enjoying this book is a willingness to turn every commonly held supposition on its head. A rule such as “The three 'reallys' rule” shows how to spot when people don’t mean what they say. “Screw it up royally” speaks to the indispensable value of making mistakes.

Roger very much hopes that you will buy this book, for yourself, your loved ones, your friends young and old, so that he may live the luxurious life to which he has yet to be accustomed. Of course, that would require that you think about Roger, and not about yourself. Thus Roger violates his own rule. He is already thinking about you.

Roger Rosenblatt, whose work has been published in fifteen languages, is the author of five New York Times Notable Books, and three Times bestsellers. Among his honors are two George Polk Awards; a Guggenheim Fellowship; an Emmy and the Peabody, for his essays on the PBS NewsHour; the Briggs-Copeland appointment in the teaching of writing at Harvard, his alma mater; seven honorary doctorates; the President’s Medal of the Chautauqua Institution; the Kenyon Review Award for Lifetime Literary Achievement; and a Fulbright to Ireland, where he played on the Irish International Basketball Team. He also plays jazz piano by ear, poorly yet passionately. He lives in New York City.