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On Being 40(ish): Fifteen Writers on the Prime of Their Lives
Fifteen powerful women and writers you know and love—from the pages of The New Yorker , T he New York Times , Vogue , Glamour , and The Atlantic —offer captivating, intimate, and candid explorations about what it’s really like turning forty—and that the best is yet to come.
The big 4-0. Like eighteen and twenty-one, this is a major and meaningful milestone our lives—especially for women. Turning forty is a poignant doorway between youth and...what comes after; a crossroads to reflect on the roads taken and not, and the paths yet before you. The decade that follows is ripe for nostalgia, inspiration, wisdom, and personal growth.
In this dazzling collection, fifteen writers explore this rich phase in essays that are profound, moving, and above all, brimming with joie de vivre. With a diverse array of voices—including Veronica Chambers, Meghan Daum, Kate Bolick, Taffy Brodesser-Akner, Sloane Crosley, KJ Dell’Antonia, Julie Klam, Jessica Lahey, Catherine Newman, Sujean Rim, Jena Schwartz, Sophfronia Scott, Allison Winn Scotch, Lee Woodruff, and Jill Kargman— On Being 40(ish) offers a range of universal themes—friendship, independence, sex, beauty, aging, wisdom, and the passage of time.
On Being 40(ish) reflects the hopes, fears, challenges, and opportunities of a generation. Beautifully designed, this is “a must read for anyone 40ish or beyond...Like a pep talk from your big sister, favorite cousin, and wise best friend” (Joanna Goddard, Cup of Jo ).
The big 4-0. Like eighteen and twenty-one, this is a major and meaningful milestone our lives—especially for women. Turning forty is a poignant doorway between youth and...what comes after; a crossroads to reflect on the roads taken and not, and the paths yet before you. The decade that follows is ripe for nostalgia, inspiration, wisdom, and personal growth.
In this dazzling collection, fifteen writers explore this rich phase in essays that are profound, moving, and above all, brimming with joie de vivre. With a diverse array of voices—including Veronica Chambers, Meghan Daum, Kate Bolick, Taffy Brodesser-Akner, Sloane Crosley, KJ Dell’Antonia, Julie Klam, Jessica Lahey, Catherine Newman, Sujean Rim, Jena Schwartz, Sophfronia Scott, Allison Winn Scotch, Lee Woodruff, and Jill Kargman— On Being 40(ish) offers a range of universal themes—friendship, independence, sex, beauty, aging, wisdom, and the passage of time.
On Being 40(ish) reflects the hopes, fears, challenges, and opportunities of a generation. Beautifully designed, this is “a must read for anyone 40ish or beyond...Like a pep talk from your big sister, favorite cousin, and wise best friend” (Joanna Goddard, Cup of Jo ).
256 pages, Paperback
Published February 25, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 25, 2025
Some real gems from all-stars like Catherine Newman and Taffy BA, but also…others that seemed either very not relatable or needed quite a bit more editing
April 22, 2024
On the eve of my 40th, I’m looking for some…thing. Some sort of guide, or mantra, a new way of thinking about this weird fact: I’m probably (at least) halfway through my life.
As Taffy Brodesser-Akner writes: “how can you be this dissatisfied when you have so much? How can you be this satisfied when you have so little?”
A solid few of these essays are gems - Brodesser-Akner’s, Catherine Newman’s (but I’d read her grocery lists), Sloane Crosley’s. A few are…insufferable (I’ll leave those names out). The drawings from Sujean Rim are delightful. Some of the navel gazing is decidedly not.
Most, if not all, of the writing in here has at least a snippet to take into the next decade. I choose “joyful participation in the sorrows of the world.”
I am at the determined point - where “the future is here, right now, whether or not it’s the one [i] hoped for. [I] made a series of decisions, and here is the result.”
As Taffy Brodesser-Akner writes: “how can you be this dissatisfied when you have so much? How can you be this satisfied when you have so little?”
A solid few of these essays are gems - Brodesser-Akner’s, Catherine Newman’s (but I’d read her grocery lists), Sloane Crosley’s. A few are…insufferable (I’ll leave those names out). The drawings from Sujean Rim are delightful. Some of the navel gazing is decidedly not.
Most, if not all, of the writing in here has at least a snippet to take into the next decade. I choose “joyful participation in the sorrows of the world.”
I am at the determined point - where “the future is here, right now, whether or not it’s the one [i] hoped for. [I] made a series of decisions, and here is the result.”
April 16, 2022
Given to Katia Major for her 45th birthday.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews