Wetherell, at the age of 54, is on the cusp of late-middle-age (which, according to him, occurs at exactly age 55). In preparation for this momentous occasion, he wants to return to Yellowstone, a place he first visited when he was 30.

Unlike many males, Wetherell didn’t experience a mid-life crisis in 40s, but the closer he gets to that line of demarcation he felt “nearer to black despair than ever before in [his:] 54 years of life. The future had closed solidly against [him:].” (p1 More...

Here are two links to Yellowstone Autumn. It is a memoir but there is enough about Yellowstone mixed in to get a nice sense of one person's perspective of the park plus his thoughts about being 55 years old. One section was quite fun. He pretends he is on the 1870s Washburn expedition and includes journal entries he would have written had he been able to go back in time with knowledge of the present time. http://nebraskapress.typepad.com/univers... http://readthebestwriting.com/?p=279
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a little maudlin and personal at first, but there is some pretty good insight in to western man aging in the 21st century. if you can make it that far. not essential reading, but not bad either. book reviewers gushed over this book, but i am not sure why. maybe they were relatives or something:)

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