Later Life

Later Life views older age as a valuable stage of life, argues for the centrality of self-making to its quality and explores, with the help of literary examples, factors both supporting and hindering the quality of later-life experiences.

Barbara A. Misztal is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Leicester. She is the author of a number of books, including Multiple Normalities (2015), The Challenges of Vulnerability (2011), Intellectuals and the Public Good (2007), Social Theories of Remembering (2003), Informality ( 2000), Trust in Modern Society (1996) and Action on AIDS (with D. Moss,1990). Her current research interest is focused on search for narratives that make sense of the public sphere.

Introduction: Later Life and The Experience of Ageing; PART I. THE PILLARS OF LATER LIFE; 1. Keeping on Wondering; 2. It Takes Courage; 3. The Enabling Potential of Habit; PART II. THE ORDEALS OF LATER LIFE; 4. The Specious Present and Boredom; 5. The Flexible Past and Bitterness; 6. The Diminishing Future and SadnessEpilogue: Explications and Ellipses.