The Last Frontier: The Social Meaning of Growing OldHow do the elderly manage to give meaning to their daily lives? Fontana has spent three years watching and talking to an enormous variety of old people: those who can afford to "grow old gracefully", the elderly poor who scrape by in urban ghettos, and those who age behind the walls of nursing homes. He lets them speak for themselves, and what they say is often surprising: it destroys many of our most cherished assumptions about aging. This book provides fundamental insights into ways to age with dignity and sense. -- Publisher description. |
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activities activity theory Age and Aging aides American asked attempt became become behavior Bismark Chapter Chicago Press convalescent center cultural dance do-gooders Dumazedier edited elderly elders engage Erving Goffman ethic examined Free Press friends Georg Simmel Gerontology Godot Grazia Gretchen growing old Grushin Havighurst Herbert Blumer Hidden Valley husband Ibid important individuals interaction Irving Rosow Jean Paul Sartre joiners large number lives look lunch Max Weber meal meaning ment Meyersohn moved Neugarten notion of leisure nurse old age older one's organized P. G. Wodehouse participant observation patients person Phil Pieper poor problems relaxers retired Riesman Robert roles Sebastian de Grazia setting seven skid row Smigel social society sociological sociologist spends symbolic interactionism talk television things told University of Chicago University Press various volunteer waiters waiting Waiting for Godot walk York