The idea behind this book is great, but its information could easily fit into a 3-page article in Woman's Day or a similar popular magazine. I expected to learn much more than I did from this very repetitive book. (It almost made me feel like I was aging on the spot: "Hey, didn't I just read that a few pages ago? Am I forgetting or imagining things?")

I stumbled upon the book strictly by accident and ended up paying full list price at Barnes and Noble. After seeing the really great prices on Amazon, I reluctently sat down to read a few chapters to try and get my monies worth. Wow. To say the book was enlightening would be to offer a dis-service to the multi-year McArthur Foundation Study. I picked up a few things from the book that most readers will not and that is basic assumptions that Private Foundations and Private Research gathers far more information about a subject than Government sponsored projects. It occured to me that Government has pretty muched screwed up Social Security as well as providing for long term health care in America. Successful Aging gives an alternative to spending your final years in a Nursing Home. The book is very well thought through, well researched and backed up with countless citations that give credit where credit is due. I found the book an enjoyable read, almost a primer. After reading this book, I ordered out about three hundred dollars worth of additional books on aging. That should tell you something. By the way, I ordered another copy of the book in out of print library edition to add to my collection. Great Book! Great Read! Don't get old without it!

The research findings reported in Successful Aging have been supported in a new 20-year study by an independent group of researchers. The study by Becca Levy of Yale Univerisity, et al, was reported in 2002. Simply stated, we can decide now to live longer and better. Having a positive attitude about aging is alone responsible for extending life by 7.5 years, and years of activity and involvment, not suffering. This is a very worthwhile read, despite what some stupid old fools have written before.