It's Hard To Be Hip Over Thirty and Other Tragedies of Married Life

The Decades of a Woman's Life #2

by Judith Viorst

Paperback

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Humor

71 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Judith Viorst is an American writer, newspaper journalist, and psychoanalysis researcher. She is known for her humorous observational poetry and for her children's literature. This includes The Tenth Good Thing About Barney (about the death of a pet) and the Alexander series of short picture books, which includes Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (1972), which has sold over two million copies.
Viorst is a 1952 graduate of the Newark College of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey. In 1968, she signed the "Writers and Editors War Tax Protest" pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War. In the latter part of the 1970s, after two decades of writing for children and adults, Viorst turned to the study of Freudian psychology. In 1981, she became a research graduate at Washington Psychoanalytic Institute after six years of study.

Reviews

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though quite dated, this is a fun look at the maturation process in women; discovering that what once was fun, what once was a priority, is no longer the case. Getting married, having children and discovering that the world is a much different place than it appeared in your youth is truly an awakening that troubles many of us. I think that these poems offer somewhat of a timeless observation of this decade. And I love that Judith Viorst created poetry books for every decade of an adult woman's life.

I've already read Unexpectedly Eighty: And Other Adaptations, I'm Too Young To Be Seventy: And Other Delusions, Suddenly Sixty And Other Shocks Of Later Life, Forever Fifty, and How Did I Get to Be 40 & Other Atrocities, and I really liked them all. So now I'm continuing my backward slide through time and will move on to the first book, When Did I Stop Being Twenty and Other Injustices: Selected Poems from Single to Mid-Life next. I certainly hope she writes a book about the nineties!

[Mimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Judith Viorst has a knack for expressing in rhyme
Issues I've thought of from time to time.

"Over the years,
When the sink overflowed. . .
Or I suffered from some other blow of fate,
It's always been so nice to have my husband by my side so I could
Blame him."

"At three in the morning I used to be sleeping an untroubled sleep in my bed,
But lately at three in the morning I'm tossing and turning,
Awakened by hypochondria, and gas, and nameless dread,
Whose name I've been learning. . . "

A fun read, one that hits home more often than not!!

[Jodi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't imagine being forced into the role of "housewife" back in the time these poems were written. The resentment comes through understandably clearly. The author is my grandmother's contemporary and she and her husband were clearly much wealthier at the time than anything my grandparents could ever have imagined. Good for her for caring about justice, but the foreign vacations and cleaning lady sound insane to my born in 1981 self.

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

can't imagine being forced into the role of "housewife" back in the time these poems were written. The resentment comes through understandably clearly. The author is my grandmother's contemporary and she and her husband were clearly much wealthier at the time than anything my grandparents could ever have imagined. Good for her for caring about justice, but the foreign vacations and cleaning lady sound insane to my born in 1981 self.

[Katelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love this series. Overlap with the 20 book, which seems to collect poems from this and her 40s book. I'd recommend the 20's book as a gift from mid 30s or under, or the 40s book if the person is almost 40.

[Tuesday Piper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute quirky book about being comfortably married in your 30s. I read this book first with a more serious tone and thought it was very pessimistic, but when I read it a second time in a sillier more sarcastic way it was much better

[Lori Palen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny and real, despite some dated references and being a little depressing.

[Sylvia · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable, if very dated read.

My favorite line is, "[Sic] it's easier to want a husband when you're not married"

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Funny and real, but didn't quite meet my expectations.

[Shira · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were parts I really liked and parts very dated.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this; I was laughing out loud as I read it. It was published in 1968 and I could so relate to the comparisons and statements she was making in her poetry. You will so enjoy this!!

[Anca Burducea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. It came out of nowhere and it took me by such surprise. So self aware and self ironical. I think I became a fan of Judith Viorst.

[Heather Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

I discovered this book after Helene Hanff mentioned it to her publisher in Q’s Legacy and was instantly curious. When I discovered Judith Viorst has written a book for every decade from her 20’s to now Nearly 90, I knew they’d be must reads. I read this one after reading Viorst’s book about her 20’s and didn’t realize beforehand that she had pulled the best poems from this book and the one about her 40’s (along with creating some new ones), and thereby creating a masterful book covering three decades. As this one was written first, I found it scattered and less polished overall. Bottom line, skip this one and read When Did I Stop Being Twenty: And Other Injustices. It tells a hilarious, super-dated-but-in-a-great-way story of her 20’s-40’s in poetry form.

[Mateen Mahboubi · Rating 5 out of 5]

References are outdated but the spirit is still there. As someone who is at the beginning of the journey that this book focuses on, I loved every minute.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Judith Viorst's poems! They make me laugh, and I love the voice of her narrator.

[Ginny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since this was originally printed in 1970, some of the references were dated and others flew right over my head. I liked the general sentiment though, and will read the others.