Betty Friedan wrote The Fountain of Age as a journey to redefine age, and to demystify the age mystique. Each chapter stands alone as an essay, exploring the many tribulations of old age. She allows us to follow her on this journey, which she starts at the age of 60 with her own fears and denial of aging, and ends with the celebration of age.

One of the main themes that run through this book is that age is perceived only as a decline or deterioration from youth. This assumption has become so pervasive throughout the professional community and society, that Friedan finds older people believing it to be true, having all bought into the decline model of aging. She writes each chapter challenging this assumption, pointing out the injustice along with the solution, usually through social-political change. This is reflected in such chapters as 'Denial and the "problem" of age', 'The Retirement Paradox', and 'A Paradigm Shift from "Cure"'.

In the 'Denial and "Problem" of Age', one of the things Friedan finds is that media consistently leaves out any appearance of older individuals on television and in advertisements saying "The blackout of images of women and men visibly over sixty-five, engaged in any vital or productive adult activity, and their replacement by the "problem" of age, is our society's very definition of age." She goes on to say, "Clearly the image of age has become so terrifying to Americans that they do not want to see any reminder of their own aging." She realizes the image of age was viewed as one of decline and deterioration, a mystique, not of desirability, but of trepidation. Growing old has almost become unspeakable, which stems from our obsession with youth.

Friedan takes on the ageist ideology of corporate America in the chapter 'The Retirement Paradox', saying at sixty-five or even before, older workers are forced into retirement, If not by law, then by social expectation, when many still want to work, and still have one-third of their lives still to live and be productive. Declaring this a great injustice to older workers, Friedan believes we don't have to continue to be structured in terms of lifespan of the past, suggesting that companies who are smart enough to adjust to the increasing population of older workers will be able to harvest enormous talent.

In 'A Paradigm Shift from "Cure"', Friedan believes the assumption of age being likened to sickness or debility keeps the medical community and even the elderly themselves from dealing with the symptoms of legitimate illnesses. The role of functional assessment is important in treating the elderly, saying, "A new version of the old-fashioned family doctor, trained to treat the whole person, is what is needed." She goes on to say "Doctors and nurses must go beyond medicine's two traditional goals: " to cure disease and to prevent disease." Their goal now has to be to preserve and improve the quality of life for the older person." For Friedan, the paradigm shift is one from the passive medical model of care of the elderly to actually controlling their own age.

Friedan undertakes issues that haven't truly been addressed before, so as a gerontologist this book is important to me. She opens our eyes to the social implications the decline model holds for our elderly, and the paradigm shift that needs to take place if we are going to look at the abilities and qualities that may develop or emerge in men and women in later life, and contemplate new possibilities for their use.

Going beyond, or the transcendence of age is how Friedan concludes her journey. Given the new possibilities old age holds, she believes the elderly have to be pioneers of a new kind of age. She found these people all across the country, applauding old age instead of dreading it. She sees old age as an opportunity for a new beginning, a new horizon, to do the things you never had the chance to do before. These people were continuing to evolve and grow into their new age. Those who originally were searching for the fountain of youth, found the fountain of age instead.

The fact that there is only 1 customer review on this tome of a book does not diminish its importance. It simply validates what the author is saying about people denying they're getting older. My zen book comforts me: For the ignorant, old age is winter; For the learned, it is harvest. Since this book was published Friedan has written yet another book, an autobiography. I am impressed with her vigor and intelligence.

I'm only forty and was drawn to this book because of what Betty Friedan has created for women in this century. I was delightfully surprised to find a book about "aging" was engaging for me. Her wonderful insights and perspectives have forever changed my outlook on getting older, and the examples and studies she cites have challenged not only my stereotypes, but allows me to challenge those of friends, families and doctors! This is a must read, REGARDLESS of your age! Perhaps even, the younger you are (to an extent!), the more profound these realities will be. I really enjoyed the audio book, which she reads herself, and plan to purchase the hard copy to have on hand to read again.

I think Betty had alot of stress in her life, and I think God attends to those under that kind of stress in incredible ways. I would have thought her story was unbelievable if I had not had my own experiences with life and death and stress. I think it was nice of her to share her story with us, and I'm glad she has found a new life that is more settled (I HOPE!).It's certainly a miracle that she made it through that illness ! And it's wonderful that her first husband was able to ask and recieve many answers to his questions about "the other side" just before his own "death". Thank you Betty! God Bless~!

This book is a touching life experience of a woman's struggle with illness, family relations,& hard realities in life, plus an account of her amazing revival from death with her Dad calling to Jesus during that time.
All of us would easily identify with the author and what she thinks inside her. If you have a problem with your in-laws, or too focused on the world, or lack a personal fellowship with God - this is a good book for you.Betty's dad is also a great blessing. About the title though, it is quite misleading. I bought the book because i was interested in Near death experiences and heavenly visions,but i was quite disappointed Betty only saw a little. Maybe that's why its only a "glimpse." Anyway, her miraculous life story and touching message makes up for this.

The greatest gift of the Lord is love. Betty shares her faith journey with us and how to overcome our selfish desires and let God be God in and through us. The Lord is the best teacher that we can follow and He so wants to love us into being. "Do not be afraid, I am with you always". Jesus.

I like Betty Neels and I find her books addicting. When I read her books I just can't put them down until I have finished reading the last page and Off With The Old Love was definitely a book that I couldn't put down until the end and I loved every little detail she put in her story, those details made it seem more real to me and I found it to be an interesting and entertaining book!

Off with the Old Love is a wonderful book, Betty Neels always writes wonderful sweet books that have nice, simple characters who aren't over-the-top ultra glamerous and fussy but more like real people. I love romance books where I feel I can somehow relate to the heroine. Some people especially the ones who only like their romance books to be steamy dislike Betty Neels books because she doesn't have sex scenes but even though I like to also read steamier romance books I also like books like this that are just as good. Too detailed? Not for me, I like how detailed her books are about English hospitals, stores furniture, food, etc. And I also love her details about Holland, it's all very interesting, but History was one of my favorite subjects in High School so I like Betty Neels History book type details which I don't think over shadows the romance parts of the book. And of course I have to very highly recommend this book!

This book is very good! It's so refreshing to read a clean and wholesome romance book that isn't sexually graphic, don't get me wrong, I do like to read romance books where the man and woman have sex but a book like Off With The Old Love is a nice change. Maybe it's just me but I wasn't disappointed with this book or it's ending, it's kind of implied in these romance books anyway that the hero and heroine will get married and if the writer doesn't write about the wedding and you you have a good imagination you can mentally picture a wedding. I have read some other books written by Betty Neels and I have enjoyed all of them and I am always looking for her older books in used book stores and they are so hard to find, I am always told that her books are so popular that most people keep them and when they do get any they sell out, they also have long waiting lists of people wanting her books, I think that says something about what a good author she is and how well liked she is, and I'm glad they are reprinting some of her older books, and I hope they reprint all of her books not just some of them!

I would give the book 4 stars because I thought the book was pretty good. One thing I liked about the book was how the girl's name is the same as mine. Another thing I liked was when her dreams actually started to apear when she was awake. I would recommend this book to anybody who likes mystery books.

If you are someone who is fond of ghost stories and are to be willing to be scared silly this is for you. The story takes place out in the country where a young girl, christina is staying with her grandmother. There christina has some scarry dreams that takes place in the woods. Soon christina meets some interesting characters and she goes and hangs out with them... soon she starts seeing her dreams again...except it's not her dreams..it's real life. This story unfolds her grandma's life...and a tale of jelousy...a must read!

This book is about a girl that moves into her grandma's house and finds a suprise. I like this book because it gave me a chill just like the book Cristina's Ghost another book Betty Wright wrote. I recommend this book if you like mysteries and don't mind a chill every now and then. I just couldn't put it down. I just had to keep reading it, I couldn't stop.

Perhaps this novel might have nostalgic appeal to adults who read these books as kids in the 50's when they first came out, but kids today are far too sophisticated to take Blyton's books too seriously. The characterizations and storyline are largely outdated to modern kids. Also, they will not identify with a lot of the British idiom the characters speak. Even the mindset and worldview of these characters (who even by 50's standards must have been living under a rock in some fairy land), are laughably quaint. The writing itself is passable at best. Blyton's pacing is painfully slow and she knows little about building suspense. If adults want a trip down memory lane while reading "safe" suspense to their kids, try "The Hardy Boys" instead. The concept is the same, but the writing is better and American kids will identify with the material much more easily -- even if they still find the characters too scrubbed up.

I'm 14 years old and i grew up with Enid Blyton.I was never really fond of Famous Five, but i loved her other books like "Come to the Circus" i dont think the books are available anymore though.i think her fairytales like about Pip the pixie are the best. i think all her books should be published again and if u order Enid Blyton through the web the best place to look would be amazon.co.uk they have a lot of her books.

I have loved every single Famous Five book...have read all of them when I was little. I think all of Enid Blyton's books are great to grow up with, I hope kids still continue to read her books and continue to love them.

If all you are looking for is a somewhat sensationalized view of the "First woman poet in history", then this book would serve the purpose. However, the author is essentially a Jungian scholar attempting to study the psyche of a high-priestess born almost 5000 years ago - based on out-dated (40 years+) opinions of other Assyriologists and Mesopotamian specialists. Her translations of those literary compositions attributed to Enheduana are also based on readings of Sumerian signs from outdated collations, and are full of her own liberal interpretation and subjective speculation. While it is widely accepted that Enheduana was indeed a prominent en-priestess of the moon god Nanna, as well as being daughter of the powerful and legendary king Sargon of Akkad, the literacy and independence of women in that period is not well-attested. The author failed to point out that the hymns and poems shown literary (Sumerian) styles from later periods (predominately Ur III and Isin-Larsa), nor did she include the latest evidence on the historical background of the Sargonic empire (hence the possible challenges to Enheduana's office) and recent researches on Mesopotamia women (which would shed more light on Enheduana's life). It is a bold first-attempt as an interdisciplinary study, but unreliable as an introduction into Mesopotamian religion or history.

This up-to-date rendition of Sumerian religious poetry and hymns can be reviewed in two areas. The first: that of the theories around the poems/hymns; the second: the actual translations. Five stars the latter, two stars the former.
The first part is given over to discussion of the Sumerian culture and the mythology of Inanna. The first chapter dupes as an intro and is autobiographical, which is nice, as it's good to see why an author has chosen to write any book. Chapter Two could be summed up by the statement that Inanna is "all encompassing", but the author chooses to spend a dozen pages saying it. To be honest you can safely ignore Chapter Two. Chapter Three is far better, giving a succinct history of pre-Sumerian cultures during the Ubaid period. Chapter Four is also very good as Meador gives a history of the archaeology of the Sumerian period. It continues through Chaprter 5 with an interpretation of Enheduanna's life. Several interpretative anomalies and assumptive theories leap out in chapters 5 to 7. For example, the single disk that was found stating: "Enheduanna..., daughter of Sargon" is interpreted as literal, even though, as the author acknowledges, this presents a dichotomy (as other Sumerian scholars also acknowledge) of incestuous rituals described in Chap6, pg 61. Given all these scholars and the author agree it presents a problem it might be prudent to theorize that the term 'daughter' is ritualistic and not literal. But, by taking the literal interpretation, it has allowed the author to present a full princessly/priestessly life of Eduhanna with no primary source to back it up.
Chapter 7 begins to discuss the 42 hymns and 3 poems. Hymn 8 speaks of the 'seven seas' which throws up all kinds of questions, given the relatively modern usage of the term. What seven seas were the Sumerians referring to? The author starts to provide assumptive criticism of the hymns and the statement that: "In these works she created a role for Inanna never before explicitly stated" is not teneble. That's akin to saying that Homer was solely responsible for creating the roles of Achilles, Hector and Agamemmnon in the Iliad just because his is the earliest record. Something so patently untrue any Hellenistic scholar would deride the statement. It is further erroneously backed up by the statement: "Enheduanna draws a complex picture of Inanna that had probably never been articulated before." 'Probably'? Alarm bells began to go off on reading that, if the author isn't convinced of her own thesis. Another example is the hymn section on pg77 where the word 'captive' is transliterated to mean she was exiled and there is subsequent psychoanalysis of her state of mind in this 'exile'. Perhaps the word 'captive' is symbolic. It is, after all, a liturgical hymn.
What is also frustrating, and Meador's amateur historian status perhaps explains it, is that (in this section) hardly any of it seems to be her own original thought. It's a constant procession of secondary author quoting, almost as though the author feels she needs professorial agreement for her points to be valid. Which is clearly not true, given the latter sections of the book. The book is good enough without a regurgitatory summation of other secondary sources.
The second part is given over the the poems and is so much better. Brief intros, the translation (my only desire would be for a parallel cuneiform alongside the english, as translatory license is obviously given; unless the author knew when and where Enheduanna was using slang which I doubt) then the commentary on the text. Not a sniff of secondary sources just free-flowing precise scholarship. Indeed the differences between what I term part I and part II are vast.
The first 'poem', between An, Innana and Ebih, has Meador drawing parallels to Eden.There was a very interesting comment on there being a pre-Edenic myh with Adam having a wife before Eve, named Lillith which was new. The second, lauds Inanna's powers, the reverence and rituals due her, with commentary on the personas of Innana. The third, exalts Inanna after a claimed actual event.
To conclude, a tale of two parts. In the first the author tends to switch between literal and figurative interpretation to fit her theories and you end up asking more questions than receiving answers. In the second , the translations of the poems are extremely well done and the sense of devotion to Inanna shines through. The author leans towards a spiritual translation rather than an factual one, and therefore you need to read it with an awareness of 'bias' to the imparted message, but as a current up-to-date version of religious Sumerian poetry this is excellent.

As someone intensely interested in Inanna, as well as the ancient Sumerian gods and religeon, this book was exactly what I needed to better understand some of the most important concepts.
Three complete poems of Enheduanna are represented here, and just the first one, "Inanna and Mount Ebih," is well worth the price of this book alone. There are many other small poems, little titbits of the ancient Sumerian hymns, which are equally enlightening. The translations, as well as the original texts are beautifully done, reading easily as poetry. If you like goddesses and you like poetry, this is a good thing to check out!
I already own "Inanna: Queen of Heaven and of Earth," by Wolkstein, so I am well familiar to Inanna as a goddess of love and warmth. The texts contained in this book are the exact opposite; many show the violent side of Inanna. But this is exactly what is important, because Inanna is a goddess of duality, that symbolizes at many time's man's ancient connection with the spirit and his natural instincts. In ancient Mesopotamia, gods were often feared for their great powers, and harshness upon those that wronged them. Its great to have a new point of view, especially one that is as powerful as this. For the serious student, I'd reccomend getting both books, that way you can have a really clear picture of the glory of Inanna.
The author spends a lot of time giving information about the ancient Sumerian customs, which I find to be very useful. For example, the Sumerian marriage rite, which I had never known much about.
Now, I do have one complaint about this book. The author tends to include WAY too many references to the Bible, as well as a really strong feminist view point. While this is in fact interesting at times, its taken to the extreme in several places, such as at the end of "Inanna and Mount Ebih." I would say that for those of you that dig gender studies, you'll find it enlightening, but I would have preferred to see more information on the ancient Sumerian way of life. Oh well.
Highly reccommended.

Back Cover description: Calm and capable-those were the words used to sum up Francesca. Certainly, she had plenty to cope with, looking after the home she shared with tree elderly aunts and working at the local hospital. Yet she dealt with it all with her usual quiet efficiency and believed her life was complete...until the arrival of Dr. Litrik van Rijgen! Having taken the trouble to track her down while she was enjoying an occasional holiday in Holland, he seemed to have other plans for her. But was she really willing to let him take over her life and possibly her heart?

This was her first holiday, she has known Litrik since she was a student nurse and she knew her life wasn't complete, but was caught by her aunts. This is not an easy book; Litrik has a dying child he wants Francesca to care for. Also, Ms. Neels makes the story so that one-minute you dislike Litrik, the next you don't, and so forth. It's as though she can't make up her mind. If it wasn't for how Litrik's character was unsettling; especially after the death of his daughter, I would have given this plot four stars

Although not emotionally gripping enough to rate a 5 star -- never the less Betty Neels stories are good clean reading and very fascinating. I love her characters.
[from the back] **********SHE NEEDED TIME -- AWAY FROM HIM!
Likable, sensible Francesca seldom met anyone she didn't get along well with. In fact, as ward nurse of a Cotswold village hospital, she was considered perfect.
Except, it seemed, in the eyes of Dr. van Rijgen, an arragant specialist, whose manner often sparked feelings in Fran she couldn't always fathom or control.
But now, on vacation in Holland, Fran felt free from those unsettling encounters. That is, until the eminent doctor tracked her down...... **********
This is one author, that no matter what, I will keep her books --- they can be loaned to anyone without fear of content.
Her doctors always seem arrogant but hide strong feelings and it takes a wonderful woman to awaken him to love.
The Secret Pool is #1 for appearance in other books -- #2 is The Girl With Green Eyes #3105 and possibly #3249 [I find this important to my reading enjoyment]
You will enjoy these great books.

I've been reading this author forever. Between my sister, my mother and I, we own every Betty Neels ever put out by HQ and MB. And I've read all of them at least twice. Some of them far more than that.

THE SECRET POOL is one of her best. It is certainly--hands down--the most emotional. Skip the tissue, go directly for the paper towel. But of course there's a happy ending. Hear, hear for Dutch professors and English nurses.

While living in Shanghai I made a point of buying memoirs or oral histories of the old China-Coast communities. This book was the least informative, most fatueous one of the lot. Ms. Sergeant obviously had impeccable connections through her husbands business contacts into the upper reachs of the old Hong families and managed to say nothing interesting. Not even gossip.

Through her skillful narration interspersed with rich vignettes, Sergeant delved into the fate, suffering and individual triumphs of 4 representative strata of the pre-World War II Shanghai society ¨C the English (the snobbish old colonial master), the Japanese (nouveau rich old-colonial-slaves-turned-new-colonial-master), the White Russians (the royalist Russians abandoned by fate and humiliated by self-degradation), and the Chinese (downtrodden colonial slaves seemingly condemned to unending cycles of oppression from within and outside its own community) ¨C in so doing Sergeant succeeded in vividly recreating the eerily exciting pulse and ambience an extraordinary city unique to the social, economic and political climate of its time.

As a modernized China re-engages the world confident of its destiny on one hand and betraying insecurity about its traumatic past on the other, Sargeant's work is an essential background reading for any foreigner with a serious interest in engaging China at a deeper level.

The most memorable part of this fine, absorbing account of pre-war Shanghai is the description of the horrific factory conditions in the Chinese- and Western- owned businesses there. Here are tales right out of Dickens! I realized, unfortunately, that the unsavoury reputation of modern China's horrible factories has a long and sad history. The description of girls from the chrome plating factories with "chromium holes eating into their arms" was particularly awful.

The book is also full of interesting stories and anecdotes of all aspects of old Shanghai - the parties, social gatherings, etc, and carries on right up to the communist takeover (when newer and even more devestating things happened). Many interesting photographs. For anyone who's been to the city recently and seen how much of the pre-war architecture survives, this book will be a treat. The author gets a little lost at the end - perplexed (sarcastic?) at Europe's seeming abandonment of the place to the Japanese without a fight, though it seems obvious that London was more worth saving than a ruthless mercantile city like Shanghai - kind of a pre-war Hong Kong is what it was, and clearly from these pages not so much glamorous as crass. Well-worth the read, this book will give the reader much food for thought as to China's current direction and unhealthy work conditions. Must Peking try so hard to follow in the ways of its more ruthless ancestors?

Another good description of Shanghai's interesting and horrible sides is W. H. Auden's and Christopher Isherwood's 1930's account, "Journey to a War."

Anthony Monday, a high schooler, and his friend, Ms. Eells, find a lamp with wierd pictures at the bottom. When Ms. Eells lights the lamp, mysetrious things begin to happen. A high school Janitor is murdered by a man wrapped in a overcoat and cob webs on his face. Can Ms. Eells and Anthony find out and stop this force before it destroys everyone?

This book was realistic and fun and kept the kids attention as well as my own. A good, fun scare and interesting story with surprises.

I have been reading this book in my spare time, which I don't have alot of, and I really injoyed reading it. You know alot of the time I will get bored reading one book for awhile and put it away but this one I couldn't. I would stay up at night and take my penfalshlight turn it on and read for hours! I plan on reading more of his books!

I enjoy meditation and I'm always looking for books to bring my intuitive powers to the surface. I really enjoy the concept and I have had a great deal of success from other books. Maybe I could have success with this book if the author weren't forcing religion down my throat. I am not religious and I don't care to be brainwashed. I can overlook the mention of religion because I feel everyone has the right to his or her own feelings. In this case, however, I will need to return this book. "God" is typed 9 times on page 2. I flipped through the pages and at a glance I would venture to guess "God" is prevalent throughout the book along with quotes from the bible. As I said, I have no problem with what anyone else does but no where in the synopsis does it say this is a religion book or I for one certainly would not have purchased it. I'm writing this comment to forewarn others that may feel the same way I do. I throw all little "Greatest Gift" pamphlets away. I certainly won't pay for a book based on the same principles.

I found this book to be most helpful in my personal development of what proves to be a strong intuitive ability. I must disagree with one of the other 'critics' reviews as I felt the references to God were not offensive. We live in a world with many different cultural and religious beliefs. Why can't we look to our 'neighbors' and realize we are different and accept without condemning? One should not take offense at such. I am not religious, but very spiritual and I believe that the world NEEDS multiple religions to satisfy so many different souls. So what if God were mentioned! There were also quotations by Emerson! Let it be and listen for what you went to the book to hear. Every experience in life adds to how we evolve as spiritual beings. I felt the book gave me insight in areas I lacked.The book basicly flows as a teaching tool, with feedback at the end of every chapter.

I think this has been the best book that I have ever used and worked with to truly understand myself. It has helped me to see things in a positive way, obtain goals, and affirm what I want or need -- and to let go of guilts, fears, and "hang ups" that I have 'acquired" over my lifetime. Working with this book, and Betty's "The Dream Book" have become a way of life for me. It's a great feeling and EASY -- I truly owe it to these books and Betty's EASY meditation technique taught in both books for the positive growth that I have made. Perfect book to start your own workshop with friends to get in and change yourself for the better. Consists of 7 chapters and "worksheets" at end of each chapter to explore yourself and your feelings. You OWE it to yourself to give it a try!