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Rating: 
Summary: Simply charming!
Review: An elegant, beautiful and inspirational little book. I read it and turned around and bought copies for all of my friends.
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Summary: To age gracefully
Review: I found this to be a wonderful book. It's refreshing to hear someone express how age is beautiful and how we should embrace it rather than hide from it. I was dreading age before I read this book. Now, I look forward to the knowledge life has to offer me. I want the wisdom that comes from experience. I want to be able to have wrinkles from laughing as an emblem from when I enjoyed so many moments. What I like most about this book is just Veronique's unique perspective. It's looking more at the good in life, rather than focusing on the bad. She found exquisiteness in age.
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Summary: To age gracefully
Review: I found this to be a wonderful book. It's refreshing to hear someone express how age is beautiful and how we should embrace it rather than hide from it. I was dreading age before I read this book. Now, I look forward to the knowledge life has to offer me. I want the wisdom that comes from experience. I want to be able to have wrinkles from laughing as an emblem from when I enjoyed so many moments. What I like most about this book is just Veronique's unique perspective. It's looking more at the good in life, rather than focusing on the bad. She found exquisiteness in age.
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Summary: I love this book
Review: I love this book:-) I keep it in my handbag and read and reread it every chance I get. I have ordered copies for all of my friends ( especially male friends) to help them get more enjoyment from there lives....I will be 60 in June and this book has helped me look forward to that big birthday with pleasure.
Rating:
Summary: Encouraging!!!
Review: Once upon a time, I owned this shirt that said, "I may grow older, but I refuse to grow up!" I thought I would never give up that shirt. I wanted to stay a child forever. Now, at a youthful 26, it was only a year ago that I started to accept that I was going to "grow up." When I was thirteen, this was a bad thing. Like all of Veronique Viennes books, she shows you the good side of things that are seen by society as bad. (getting older, imperfection, doing nothing.) I have finally learned that getting older is great! It does get harder of course because there are so many more decisions to make, but I wouldn't trade that for wisdom, intelligence, and the fact that I am the one who gets to make those decisions! The pictures in this book were taken by her daughter, Jeanne Lipsy, a photographer and camera assistant in her own right. They are black and white in style with a brown tint that brings an old fashioned look to it. I think her next title should be "the art of eating ice cream while laying in bed and reading books and watching movies." :) We need to teach young women that "old" and "young" are just attitudes, not numbers! Read this book!
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Summary: An enjoyable read; liked her first two much better
Review: Véronique Vienne's third "Art" book, on the subject of aging and being yourself, didn't connect with me the way her first two did. In "The Art of Growing Up," the author keeps to the formula that worked so well in "The Art of Doing Nothing" and "The Art of Imperfection," both of which I liked very much. There are ten chapters, with essays featuring the interplay between Ms. Vienne's delightfully quirky perspectives on modern society and anecdotes of a historic/scientific nature. Each chapter is augmented by a list of "keepsake" words of wisdom, and interspersed with great sepia duotone photos by her daughter Jeanne Lipsey (whose contributions have taken over impressively from those of Erica Lennard in the first two books). While Ms. Vienne offers quite a collection of poignant things to say about aging, her style of wit--that of melding scientific explanations with downright funny comments about how we go about our lives--seemed much more humorous when dealing with our foibles and goofy mannerisms than it does with the more serious topic of growing older. It appears like the author is striving to show us how our younger years weren't as good as we thought, and how "aging" really means "arriving," "knowing," "succeeding," etc. In other words, the experiences we had when we were young pale in comparison to what we're going through now. True for many, but I, for one, feel blessed by the formative years of childhood through early adulthood, and never want to forget these times. Maybe aging doesn't bug me as much as it does others (perhaps I don't feel old enough yet!). Oh, and on the subject of "being yourself," Ms. Vienne's writing shines much more brightly in "The Art of Imperfection," my favorite of her "Art" books to date. Overall, there are lots of likeable thoughts in this book. The chapter on "The Art of Laughing," followed by the Mae West quotes, is a classic. The photography is fantastic ... again. For many readers, this book will be of some comfort, plus a nice source for passing words of wisdom concerning adulthood and aging to your family and friends. As for me, I don't think I was in the target audience this time around.
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Summary: I loved reading this book to my mother.
Review: Véronique Vienne's third "Art" book, on the subject of aging and being yourself, didn't connect with me the way her first two did. In "The Art of Growing Up," the author keeps to the formula that worked so well in "The Art of Doing Nothing" and "The Art of Imperfection," both of which I liked very much. There are ten chapters, with essays featuring the interplay between Ms. Vienne's delightfully quirky perspectives on modern society and anecdotes of a historic/scientific nature. Each chapter is augmented by a list of "keepsake" words of wisdom, and interspersed with great sepia duotone photos by her daughter Jeanne Lipsey (whose contributions have taken over impressively from those of Erica Lennard in the first two books). While Ms. Vienne offers quite a collection of poignant things to say about aging, her style of wit--that of melding scientific explanations with downright funny comments about how we go about our lives--seemed much more humorous when dealing with our foibles and goofy mannerisms than it does with the more serious topic of growing older. It appears like the author is striving to show us how our younger years weren't as good as we thought, and how "aging" really means "arriving," "knowing," "succeeding," etc. In other words, the experiences we had when we were young pale in comparison to what we're going through now. True for many, but I, for one, feel blessed by the formative years of childhood through early adulthood, and never want to forget these times. Maybe aging doesn't bug me as much as it does others (perhaps I don't feel old enough yet!). Oh, and on the subject of "being yourself," Ms. Vienne's writing shines much more brightly in "The Art of Imperfection," my favorite of her "Art" books to date. Overall, there are lots of likeable thoughts in this book. The chapter on "The Art of Laughing," followed by the Mae West quotes, is a classic. The photography is fantastic ... again. For many readers, this book will be of some comfort, plus a nice source for passing words of wisdom concerning adulthood and aging to your family and friends. As for me, I don't think I was in the target audience this time around.
Rating:
Summary: Gentle, Playful, and Poetic
Review: When I first picked-up *The Art of Growing Up*, I randomly opened it and the first line my eyes fell on said "Decide once and for all never to apologize for your age". I knew then that I was going to like this book. A small and elegant little tome filled with gentle and playful reminders that there is poetry in ageing if only we use the wisdom of our years to accept it, as well as dance with it. The more we fret over the years we rack up, the harder we make things on ourselves. Just because you are a woman of a...ahem....certain age...doesn't mean you can no longer embrace whimsy, swathe yourself in color, seek out adventure, or dream big dreams. It is a time to write your own myths, savor your gifts, revel in your mysteries, and stop dwelling on clichés. This book is sprinkled generously with lovely black and white photographs that include women of all ages and contains ten chapters all beginning with "The Art of....". Each chapter ends with a list, which thrills a consummate, and sometimes rather obsessive, list-maker like myself. A couple of my favorite lines are: "Use long words around short people. Teach a five-year-old to say 'facetious'" and "Be the designated observer of both grief and wonder". This would make an excellent gift for women friends, even those still in their twenties - give them a taste of what they have to look forward to rather than dread.
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