Why Survive?: Being Old in America

by Robert N. Butler MD

Overview

"Butler questions the value of long life for its own sake; modern medicine, he says, has ironically created 'a huge group of people for whom survival is possible but satisfaction in living elusive.' He proposes sweeping policy reforms to redefine and restructure the institutions responsible for what he calls 'the tragedy of old age in America.'" -New York Times Book Review

"Crammed with facts that explode old myths." -Boston Globe

"Heavily documented, highly readable . . . jammed with recommendations for constructive change in every area." -Science

"I commend it for clarity and lucidity, unpretentiousness and comprehensiveness . . . I think it is a classic." -Karl Menninger M.D.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801874253
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	02/01/2003
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	512
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.30(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Robert N. Butler, M.D., is president and chief executive officer of the International Longevity Center-USA and professor of geriatrics at the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Adult Development at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. From 1975 to 1982 he was the founding director of the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health. In 1982 he founded the first department of geriatrics in a U.S. medical school. In 1976 Butler won the Pulitzer Prize for his book Why Survive?: Being Old in America. He is co-author (with Dr. Myrna I. Lewis) of the books Aging and Mental Health and Love and Sex After 60. He is presently working on a book, The Longevity Revolution.

Table of Contents

A Personal Note
Preface
Chapter 1. The Tragedy of Old Age in America
Chapter 2. How to Grow Old and Poor in an Affluent Society
Chapter 3. What About My Pension?
Chapter 4. The Right to Work
Chapter 5. No Place to Live
Chapter 6. No Time to Wait
Chapter 7. The Unfulfilled Prescription
Chapter 8. "They Are Only Senile"
Chapter 9. Houses of Death Are a Lively Business
Chapter 10. Victimization of the Elderly
Chapter 11. Pacification and the Politics of Aging
Chapter 12. The Gift of Life
Chapter 13. Lossening Up Life
Chapter 14. Growing Old Absurd
Appendixes
A. Sources of Gerontological and Geriatric Literature
B. Organizations Pertaining to the Eldery
C. Government Programs for the Eldery
D. Government Agencies for the Eldery
E. Other National Organizations with Programs in the Field of Aging
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

Judd Marmor

Important, fact-filled, compassionate, and insightful.

— Judd Marmor, M.D., former president, American Psychiatric Association

Alex Comfort

The best and best informed exposé to appear so far... every American of every age should read this book.

Karl Menninger M.D.

I commend it for clarity and lucidity, unpretentiousness and comprehensiveness... I think it is a classic.

From the Publisher

The best and best informed exposé to appear so far . . . every American of every age should read this book.
—Alex Comfort

Important, fact-filled, compassionate, and insightful.
—Judd Marmor, M.D., former president, American Psychiatric Association

I commend it for clarity and lucidity, unpretentiousness and comprehensiveness . . . I think it is a classic.
—Karl Menninger M.D.

Editorial Reviews

Butler questions the value of long life for its own sake; modern medicine, he says, has ironically created 'a huge group of people for whom survival is possible but satisfaction in living elusive.' He proposes sweeping policy reforms to redefine and restructure the institutions responsible for what he calls 'the tragedy of old age in America.'.
--New York Times Book Review

Crammed with facts that explode old myths.
--Boston Globe

Eloquent, exhaustive, and formidably informed . . . A mandatory book.
--Kirkus Reviews

Everyone should read this book . . . suitable for use in high school as well as medical school, and for readers of every age.
--Journal of the American Medical Association

Heavily documented, highly readable . . . jammed with recommendations for constructive change in every area.
--Science

The Encyclopedia Britannica of American aging.
--Washingtonian

This book admirably reviews the panoply of ugly social facts which add up to 'ageism' (a term Butler coined, meaning prejudice against old persons). In such areas as housing, Social Security, inflation, nursing homes, and medical care, Butler reports pervasive private despair and public neglect .. [and] calls for a 'national policy on aging' which would encompass more and better health care, nutrition, transportation, and public service information.
--Library Journal

From the Publisher

The Encyclopedia Britannica of American aging.

Washingtonian

Crammed with facts that explode old myths.

Boston Globe

Butler questions the value of long life for its own sake; modern medicine, he says, has ironically created 'a huge group of people for whom survival is possible but satisfaction in living elusive.' He proposes sweeping policy reforms to redefine and restructure the institutions responsible for what he calls 'the tragedy of old age in America.'.

New York Times Book Review

Heavily documented, highly readable . . . jammed with recommendations for constructive change in every area.

Science

Everyone should read this book . . . suitable for use in high school as well as medical school, and for readers of every age.

Journal of the American Medical Association

"Heavily documented, highly readable... jammed with recommendations for constructive change in every area."

Science