A Book of Ages: An Eccentric Miscellany of Great & Offbeat Moments in the Lives of the Famous & Infamous, Ages 1 to 100

Mr. Hanson, and his book, as I said in my title, saved me from a mid-life crisis the day i turned 50 by revealing to me there was still time, that it's never too late. But this isn't a Pollyanish (spelling?) volume; not just about Grandma Moses starting to paint at 123. There are hilarious entries; the day/age when Freud first saw his mother naked, etc. It's also very sobering/realistic.......to realize that by my age Elvis Presley had already been dead for eight years. Thanks Eric, for an hilarious, realistic, inspiring, once in awhile saddening, but mostly just a good, realistic, side-splitting chronice/and introduction of evidence to all of us who wonder if we've peaked at age 50, 40, 20 or 7.

It's easy to feel like you haven't achieved much after reading through the first few years but it's also really inspiring as to what can still be accomplished...

I picked this book up and read it whenever I had a free moment. It's a fascinating collection of anecdotes about a varied and large group of famous people. Anyone should read this if they want a perspective on their own life and age, an interesting fact to share or know, or a gift for anyone they know. Buy the book, it's one of few books I look through again and again.

Eric Hanson strings together bits and chunks of personal stories and history through the lives of writers, artists, politicians and others in our milieu. If you wonder about where are on on the path of life compared to others, if you love biographies but don't have time to read a full book... if you want to be entertained and learn something, buy this. You can pick it up and read it for 2 minutes, or read it cover to cover. "A Book of Ages" is a great gift!