Disguised: A True Story

by Pat Moore, Charles Paul Conn

The author recounts what she learned disguised as poor, middle class, and well-to-do elderly women

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Design, Biography

Hardcover

First published November 1, 1985

Reviews

[Connie Godby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Her ability to "disguise" herself into an elderly woman and experience the treatment that a senior citizen experiences in our world today is something EVERYONE should read about. For many, older people are considered fair game, bottom of the barrel, disposable and in the way. Wake up, America. We're all headed there. Let's learn that these are people and deserve the respect that we would want for ourselves. It was an extremely intresting and helpful book to really show what can happen when you move up the ladder of time.

[Nancy Zuo · Rating 5 out of 5]

this brought me to tears, the story is told so beautifully to illustrate our disconnect between the young and old

[Arthur Salyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

An older book but very interesting about a young person living for periods of time as a very old person. Good insights about prejudice against older people back then and continuing today. Suggestions particularly children interacting with older folks.

[Dianne Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was heartbreaking to hear the prejudices that people experience due to age, skin color, or any other trait. This book made me think about how I act toward other people.

[Brian Kovesci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listening to Patricia speak at DAAP was one of the highlights of my time in Cincinnati. Truly an incredible woman.

[Cwwmmeehan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

[Lynn Carr · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this more than 15 years ago and it's still with me.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting read about a young woman (26) who decides that to better understand her target audience (she is an industrial designer, who wants to have things work better for the elderly) she needs to become old. She works with a make-up artist and does just that -- three different guises (wealthy, mid income, and poor) and over three years she discovers how the elderly are treated.

I enjoyed the writing style and the tale that was told. And it made me think, as elderly is one of the few minorities made up of the majority -- eventually (if all goes well) we will all be in the minority of being elderly.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would give this a 3.5 Pat Moore is definitely a designer, not a writer. However, I read this book for its content, not her writing style. It details a really fascinating experiment in human-centered design at its utmost. As an IDEOer, it was a compelling read about the need to empathize with your user and design with human needs in mind - and not just the needs of an easily reachable demographic, but everyone.

Quick, interesting read. Recommended if the world of human factors interests you

[Sarah Phoenix · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book as a gift from my friend Kurt...if you have ever read Black Like Me, this could be subtitled Old, Like Me. It cracked me up in a number of places, primarily because I am old. But, the simplicity of it was a bit annoying. Originally published in 1985, I'd be interested to know just how many were sold, I actually think it was published by a "vanity publisher." Anyway, Thanks for the Gift...it was even autographed.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moore's writing is nothing more than ordinary, the book's subject and her personal experiences are unique and interesting. This read definitely changed by thinking toward the elderly and informed me of important and saddening statistics. Hopefully this will forever change the way I act and feel towards the "old."

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting and engaging exploration of the world of the elderly. Pat Moore disguises herself as an elderly person and within ten minutes she has learned things she could not through merely reading books on gerontology. The book is not particularly long, but it kept me interested from beginning to end - I read it in one day.

[Hannah Applebee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This autobiography was definitley an interesting read. I found the concept of the book very intriguing since I would not normally question how people, especially young people respond to the elderly. I feel that this book really opened my eyes to the outside world and how differently people of all ages are treated.

[Whitney · Rating 3 out of 5]

The themes and topics discussed are important and valuable, but this book would've worked better as an article or a series of essays. As narrative non-fiction it just didn't work. Her writing is nothing special and this idea didn't play out like it could've.

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305.2

[Sara Best · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an amazing and thought provoking book. I read this over 25 years ago and still often refer to what I learned from it.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now I think better about how society portrays older people.

[Selkie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The memoirs & revelations of the author, whom as a young women working in industrial designer, took on the disguise of an elderly women to truly find out what it is like to be old in America