Product Description Old age in America is not what it used to be
In 1994 New York Times writer Dudley Clendinen?s mother?a Southern matron of iron will but creaking bones?sold her house and moved to Canterbury Tower, a geriatric apartment building with full services and a nursing wing in Tampa Bay. There she landed in a microcosm of the New Old Age. Canterbury was filled not just with old Tampa neighbors but also with strangers from across the country. Wealthy, middle class, or barely afloat; Christian, Jewish, or faithless; proud, widowed, or still married; grumpy or dear?they had all come together, at the average age of eighty-six, in search of a last place to live and die.
A Place Called Canterbury is a beautifully written, often hilarious, deeply moving look at how the oldest Americans are living with the reality of living longer. Peopled by brave, daffy, memorable characters determined to grow old with dignity?and to help one another avoid the dreaded nursing wing?A Place Called Canterbury is a kind of soap opera. Likewise, it is a poignant chronicle of the last years of the Greatest Generation and their children, the Boomers, as they are drawn into old age with their parents. A Place Called Canterbury is an essential read for anyone with aging parents and anyone wondering what their own old age will look like.
Bravo Mr. Clendinen August 29, 2008 2 out of 3 found this review helpful
The author writes about life in a geriatric care apartment building where his mother lived out the final 9 years of her life. He loves the characters he meets there as they are and his writing is so gracious as he also gives us glimpses reminding us who they were. I hope that I'm lucky enough to find somewhere like Canterbury Towers for my final chapter. Beautifully written, humorous, and dignified.
Unsympathetic account of aging August 24, 2008 6 out of 7 found this review helpful
From the outset I felt that the author's tone and stories failed to give a sense of the people he described as real people - as if he didn't see himself as the same as them, and didn't see that he would become an elder and would have to deal with their pleasures and problems. Often I felt I was reading about "cute" old people. I continued reading because I hoped the book would be a story of his own transformation in realizing his own vulnerability and mortality, but this never happened.
Great insider reporting July 22, 2008 4 out of 6 found this review helpful
I loved this book. I'm a caregiver for a 102 year old, but it's in a home. This gave the other side of the story of what happens when someone is first in assisted living and then moves to full-fledged nursing care.
Great, engaging writing.
Charming and poignant! July 2, 2008 0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I loved this book...as one of the newly old i found it to be compassionate as well as informative.
A very accuratea desctiption June 8, 2008 1 out of 3 found this review helpful
I was amazed when I found this book. It is a very accurate description of Canterbury Tower. My mother was one of the original residents and died 17years later in the health care center. The book was based on a certain group of residents who had grown up together for the most part. Life in canterbury Tower surely has it's ups and downs and problems. It is a fairly unbiased book on the subject but doesn't mention all the nasty things that go on in that setting among the residents and staff. Overall though I felt he did justice to living in this type of setting but perhaps made Canterbury Tower sound too good to be true.
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