The Big Five-Oh!: Facing, Fearing, And Fighting Fifty

by Bill Geist

Bill Geist's hilarious book describes his personal struggle with the awful aging process and with the monumental milestone called the Big Five-Oh. From the trauma of receiving an application to join the AARP to the realization that he can't really see the menu, hear the waiter, or remember the specials, Geist catalogs the discontents, large and small, of those approaching and passing fifty. He lies about his age, shops for a Harley, buys an Ab-Roller, receives liposuction counseling, finds himself the oldest guy at a rock concert, catches himself paying attention to a Depends commercial, buys "relaxed fit" jeans, falls asleep at a party, wakes up from a nightmare about college tuition, and damn near buys a Cadillac!

Genres: Nonfiction, Humor

240 pages, Hardcover

First published September 3, 1997

Reviews

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this way back when I was hitting 50 but even hindsight makes it a funny book. And we didn't age quite the way much of the book presented..it was slower than that and most of the age insults hit at 60.

[Elizabeth Meadows · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book, but I decided to abandon it after 80 pages. I did skim the rest to see if I would be missing much and continued to be disappointed. My main problem with this book is the level of crude humor. That is just not my preference.

I just turned 54, so I'm at the end of the Baby Boomers and I think Bill Geist is closer to the beginning of the generation. Therefore I did not identify with some of the jokes and references to things that were happening when he turned 50 in the late 90s. I had a much different perspective of the 90s.

Of course I do identify with the physical part of aging and all that entails. And I did (and continue to) throw out solicitations from AARP. (I'm only 54! Let me NOT be a senior citizen for as long as I can please.) So even though it really goes against my grain to leave a book unfinished, I'm going to have to move on to another of the hundreds of books on my TBR that I'm sure I will enjoy.

[Ken Tan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, the book is 23 years old. It’s kind of dated considering the topic and a lot of the references are pretty obscure. I guess it was funny during the 90s.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny book. Made me laugh.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth a few laughs. This book is a fun read *if* you're 50-ish and on vacation.

[Linda Galway · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Jami · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE Bill Geist!

[Sally Fouhse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really funny - and so true. "Geezer goods" - perfect description.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some parts were really funny... some hit too close to home!

[Ford · Rating 1 out of 5]

terrible book..not funny at all.

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring. I expected better from Bill Geist.

[Gary · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was given this book when I turned 50. 16 years later I finally got around to reading it. Big mistake. It was published in the late 1990s and is now pretty dated. The author's sarcastic wit starts out being pretty amusing ----- but after 70 pages I found it became a bit depressing and repetitive. Oh well, on to the next book.