Book Review: Older, Wiser, Shorter

Older, Wiser, Shorter: An Emotional Road Trip to Membership in the Senior Class, by Jane Seskin, ISBN: 978-0578447247, New York, 2019, 74 pages, $15.00 (paperback).

    Jane Seskin, a licensed clinical social worker and author of a dozen books, shines a light on vulnerability and resilience in aging in her latest poetry collection, Older, Wiser, Shorter: An Emotional Road Trip to Membership in the Senior Class.

    In Older, Wiser, Shorter, Seskin reveals daily realities that people (particularly women) past a certain age will recognize all too well, and those who are not there yet will certainly recognize in due time. The poems are simple and profound, personal, and written with honesty and humor.

    One reason I recommend this book for social workers is that Seskin, being a social worker herself, provides a reading guide in the back of the book. For each section, she provides reflective discussion questions and prompts. I can see this book being useful with individual clients or a support or therapy group for older adults.

    For example, in one poem, “Forecast,” she writes about noticing a friend looking suddenly old, and then realizing she, too, has “crossed over.” She asks readers to consider their own “aha” moments. In a later poem, “The Reading Script,” she imagines her own eulogy. She prompts readers to think about what they want people to say about them.

    Older, Wiser, Shorter is a gem that will bring laughter, tears, smiles, and a feeling that “I am not alone” for aging readers. It is small enough to be read in one sitting or can be read one poem at a time.

Reviewed by Linda May Grobman, MSW, ACSW, LSW, publisher/editor of The New Social Worker.