{"product_id":"nasty-brutish-and-long-isbn-9781583333778","title":"Nasty, Brutish, and Long","description":"\u003cb\u003eRead Ira Rosofsky's posts on the Penguin Blog\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e A candid, humane, and improbably humorous look at the world of eldercare \u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In nursing homes across the country, members of the Greatest Generation are living out their last days. Life is a succession of pokes and prods, medications, TV, bingo, and, possibly, talking to Ira Rosofsky. With a compassionate eye but mordant wit, Rosofsky, a psychologist charged with gauging the mental health of his elders, reveals a culture based not in the empathy of caretaking, but rather in the coolly detached bureaucracy of Medicare and Medicaid. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e A portrayal of what is increasingly becoming the last slice of life for many, \u003ci\u003eNasty, Brutish, and Long\u003c\/i\u003e is also a baby boomer's poignant meditation on mortality, a reflection on his caregiving for his parents' final days, and an examination of the choices that we, as a society, have made about health care for the elderly who are no longer of sound mind and body.Ira Rosofsky is a psychologist who has years of experience serving residents in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. His writing has appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times, The Village Voice\u003c\/i\u003e, and the \u003ci\u003eAdvocate\u003c\/i\u003e newspapers of New England. He lives with his wife and their three children in New Haven, CT.\u003cp\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTitle Page\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCopyright Page\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDedication\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEpigraph\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter 1 -  DO YOU PLAY CHESS?Overture\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter 2 - FINDING YOUR WAY HOMEWelcome to the Rest of Your Life\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter 3 - THE RECORDING ANGELSDoing It by the Book\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter 4 - OLD AS A STEINWAYCast of Characters\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter 5 - BED, BATHS, AND BEYOND BINGO  Daily Life at the End of Life\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter 6 - YOUNG GIRLS IN SHORT SKIRTS  Health Care for the Frail and Old\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChapter 7 - THE FINAL CHAPTERDying and Death\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAFTERWORD\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAcknowledgements\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eADVANCE PRAISE FOR NASTY, BRUTISH, AND LONG\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“When it comes to Hell, Dante Alighieri is the definitive tour guide. But for today’s (and quite possibly tomorrow’s) living hell, you’ll want to take Ira Rosofsky’s delightfully wry narrative along for the ride. He accomplishes what few authors are capable of—taking an unnerving topic and turning it into a book so enthralling you won’t want to put it down. Indeed, it’s a meditation worthy of Marcus Aurelius and Jerry Seinfeld.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e—ANDREW D. BLECHMAN, author of \u003ci\u003eLeisureville: Adventures in America’s Retirement Utopias\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“In \u003ci\u003eNasty, Brutish, and Long,\u003c\/i\u003e Ira Rosofsky provides a rare glimpse into the hearts and minds of the aging. As a psychologist who has worked in nursing homes and an immensely talented and sensitive writer, he manages to find the perfect telling details to bring this often neglected world alive for the reader.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e—GAIL KONOP BAKER, author of \u003ci\u003eCancer Is a Bitch (Or, I’d Rather Be Having a Midlife Crisis)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“In an intriguing combination of personal story, social commentary, and scientific observation, a psychologist lifts the veil on nursing homes. Ira Rosofsky’s presentation—laced with sharp humor—treats us to the nursing home experience from the variety of these viewpoints. All who have had experiences with nursing homes—whether as residents, relatives of residents, or professionals—should read \u003ci\u003eNasty, Brutish, and Long,\u003c\/i\u003e as should anyone interested in a penetrating view of how we as a society care for and care about those too frail or elderly to care for themselves.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e—LAURIE STILLMAN, Director, Public Health Policy and Advocacy Center, The Medical Foundation\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“\u003ci\u003eNasty, Brutish, and Long\u003c\/i\u003e is as much about the last years of life and the meaning of existence during old age as it is about nursing homes. Ira Rosofsky’s personal narrative—along with the tales of the elderly he treats—contributes to a picture of the author as a fully engaged human being who tells his story with style and humor. And the story has an insightful and sensitive perspective on issues as varied as psychotherapy, psychopharmacology, the institutionalization of the aged, and our inevitable mortality.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e—DAVID HALL, former principal, Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, University of Chicago\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePublished by the Penguin Group\u003cbr\u003ePenguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Group\u003cbr\u003e(Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3,\u003cbr\u003eCanada (a division of Pearson\u003cbr\u003eCanada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Ireland,\u003cbr\u003e25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) Penguin Group (Australia),\u003cbr\u003e250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group\u003cbr\u003ePty Ltd) • Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi-110 017,\u003cbr\u003eIndia Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of\u003cbr\u003ePearson New Zealand Ltd) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue,\u003cbr\u003eRosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePenguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eCopyright © 2009 by Ira Rosofsky\u003cp\u003eAll rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any \u003cbr\u003eprinted or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy \u003cbr\u003eof copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions. \u003cbr\u003ePublished simultaneously in Canada\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMost Avery books are available at special quantity discounts for bulk purchase for sales promotions, premiums, fund-raising, and educational needs. Special books or book excerpts also can be created to fit specific needs. For details, write Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Special Markets, 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eeISBN : 978-1-101-02869-8\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNeither the publisher nor the author is engaged in rendering professional advice or services to the individual reader. The ideas, procedures, and suggestions contained in this book are not intended as a substitute for consulting with a physician. All matters regarding health require medical supervision. Neither the author nor the publisher shall be liable or responsible for any loss or damage allegedly arising from any information or suggestion in this book.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers and Internet addresses at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after publication. Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eFor Linda, Jonathan, Leah, Sammy, and all our elders\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“My brother owns a nursing home in Lakewood, New Jersey, and the things he sees you could make a book out of. If somebody wrote it, it might do the world some good.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e—PHILIP ROTH, \u003ci\u003eThe Anatomy Lesson\u003c\/i\u003e (1983)\u003cp\u003e1\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e DO YOU PLAY CHESS?\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOverture\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eS\u003c\/b\u003eam Rosen is telling me once again that he was married for seventy-seven years and suddenly he’s all alone.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe is one hundred and two. A year ago, he was still living at home with his one-hundred-and-one-year-old wife. But at ancient ages your life expectancy is limited. She’s buried in the cemetery. He’s buried in the nursing home.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Fit as a fiddle, and then she catches pneumonia! Then my kids sell the house and put me here. They don’t even visit,” Sam says.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Seventy-seven years!” he reminds me.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe’s sitting on his bed in the corner of a room considerably smaller than the average middle-class living room. I’m in a chair squeezed beside his bed. Books and magazines—most of them of a left-wing variety—are piled high on the nightstand. This small corner of the universe is all that is left to him after more than a century of living. It is no different from the small corners allotted to the hundred other residents of his nursing home or from the two  million corners of similar rooms in the eighteen thousand nursing homes across our nation.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwo million out of a population of three hundred million may seem like a small number, but the nursing home experience will touch almost all. If you are sixty-five, your lifetime chances of spending time in a nursing home are 43 percent. If not you, it could be your parents.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs you age, your chances increase. Only 12 percent of people between sixty-five and seventy-four are in nursing homes, compared to one-third of those between seventy-five and eighty-four. If you live to eighty-five, your chances are better than one in two.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSam defied the odds. For most of those seventy-seven married years, he lived in a big old Victorian house. It had only a few years on him. Queen Victoria died just a few years before Sam was born.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn the wall is a sepia photo of a cute couple.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“That’s me and my wife,” Sam tells me—the wife with a vintage bob; Sam with wavy hair, looking early Cagney.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNext to that photo is one of Sam, a lifetime later. He and the family are blowing out a one-hundred-candle cake. I idly wonder how they lighted the last candles before the first ones went out.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf you looked up \u003ci\u003ewizened\u003c\/i\u003e in the dictionary, there might be a picture of Sam. But he’s ambulatory, can still read, and knows he’s unhappy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Do you play chess?” Sam asks. “Or Scrabble?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEvery week I see him, I get this invitation along with a reminder that he was married for seventy-seven years.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe other day my daughter was flipping through the \u003ci\u003eGuinness Book of World Records.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Avery","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46299824357605,"sku":"NP9781583333778","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781583333778.jpg?v=1767733468","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/nasty-brutish-and-long-isbn-9781583333778","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}