Older and Wiser: Inspiration and Advice for Retiring Baby Boomers

There's sympathy beneath the scathing wit in this hilarious survival manual for Baby Boomers. Revealing the rust beneath the mythic "Golden Years," Ahlander's rowdy sequel to Older and Happier (published earlier this year) is a literary boot camp for seniors facing financial, familial, and social pressures in a rapidly changing world. The Swedish author's personable approach translates easily to American dilemmas. Ahalander is a bar-side guru: she recommends profoundly simple keep self-expectations in the form of "109 Thoughts for the Continuing Journey." Urging positive daily action in "Don't Let Life Become One Long Wait," this self-help crash course is mostly lighthearted with hard lessons on investing, managing savings, and simply enjoying one's money. Challenges of familial relations, excess time, and the fear of pain and illness are treated with dignity and affable self-mockery. The subchapter "Most of It Is Crap" emphasizes the no-nonsense homespun approach not only to surviving but also to enjoying retirement. He examines the economic, cultural, and spiritual challenges that arrive to seniors more regularly than social security checks with quick pace, crisp prose, and sheer gusto. Ahlander provides much needed preventative medicine for the dazed and disillusioned. (Oct.)