Sixty

by Ian Brown, Mark Boyett (Reading)

"This is the thing, you I am on my way to being an old man. But at 60, I am still the youngest of old men." As Ian Brown's 60th birthday loomed, every moment seemed to present a confront or deny the biological fact that the end was now closer than the beginning. True, he was beginning to notice memory lapses, creaking knees, and a certain social invisibility - and yet it troubled him that many people think of 60 as "old", because he rarely felt older than he had at 40. An award-winning writer, Brown instead chose to notice every moment, try to understand it, capture it...all without panicking. Sixty is the Brown's uncensored account of his 61st year and, informed by his reportorial gifts, his investigation of the many changes - physical, mental, and emotional - that come to all of us as we age. Brown is a master of the seriocomic, and his day-to-day dramas - as a husband, father, brother, son, friend, and neighbor - are rendered, inseparably, with wistfulness and laugh-out-loud wit. He is also a discerning, prolific reader, and it is a pure pleasure being privy to his thoughts on the dozens of writers - including Virginia Woolf, Philip Larkin, AJ Liebling, Wislawa Szymborska, Clive James, Sharon Olds, and Karl Ove Knausgaard - who speak to him most at 60. From an author on whom the telling detail is never lost, Sixty is a richly informative, candid report from the line between middle-aged and soon-to-be elderly. It perfectly captures the obsessions of a generation realizing that they are no longer young.

Genres: Memoir

MP3 CD

Published May 16, 2017

About the author

A Canadian journalist and author.

He is currently the host of Human Edge and The View from Here on TVOntario, and has hosted programming for CBC Radio One, including Later the Same Day, Talking Books, and Sunday Morning.

He has also worked as a business writer at Maclean's and the Financial Post, a feature reporter for The Globe and Mail, and a freelance journalist for other magazines including Saturday Night.
Brown is also the editor of What I Meant to Say: The Private Lives of Men a 2006 collection of twenty-nine essays by prominent Canadian writers, including Greg Hollingshead, David MacFarlane, Don Gillmor, Bert Archer, and Brown himself, who asked his contributors to write on subjects that they'd like to discuss with women but had never been able to.

Brown has also published three books, Freewheeling (1989) about the Billes family, owners of Canadian Tire, and Man Overboard. He is an occasional contributor to the American public radio program This American Life. The Boy in the Moon, a book-length version of Brown's series of Globe and Mail features dealing with his son Walker's rare genetic disorder, Cardiofaciocutaneous Syndrome (CFC), was published in the fall of 2009.

In January 2010, Ian Brown won British Columbia's National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction for his book The Boy in the Moon: A Father's Search for His Disabled Son. The award is Canada's richest non-fiction prize and offers the winner a $40,000 prize. In February, 2010, the book won the Charles Taylor Prize, a $25,000 prize which recognizes excellence in literary non-fiction.

Brown is married to Globe and Mail film critic Johanna Schneller.

Reviews

[Joni Aveni · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book surprisingly depressing in its ceaseless navel gazing and dwelling on death and decay. It did, however, make me grateful that so far my 60s have not pitched me into the same sorry state. Maybe I should write my own memoir ... one that doesn’t make 60yo readers want to sit in a corner and cut themselves.

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't mind turn 60 nearly as much as I minded turning 40. I am an old woman and don't mind one bit saying so. I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair review sometime ago, and actually read it some months ago. I chalk up my forgetfulness to my brain getting full! The excuse is good enough for my 86 year old aunt, it's good enough for me. Anyway, I digress. Ian Brown's book spoke to me as a soon to be senior of 59. I could actually relate and have a good laugh at the aging process! All the aches, pains, griefs, sorrows, forgetfulness better give one a good laugh occasionally, or life would be unbearable! Take with an aspirin, or whatever (could shots of whisky help!) and get on with living! Fun book!

[Brad B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite interesting, Mr. Brown strikes me as someone with a curious mind who I would enjoy having a conversation with. While the author does come across as a bit privileged at times (complaining about being poor while traveling the world), his insights range from poignant to hilarious and always kept me turning the pages. Integrating generations by reflecting on his own father and his college-age daughter adds considerable depth. I would welcome Mr. Brown revisiting this theme for his 71st year, and, with luck, for numerous decades to follow.

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughtful diary about the realities of aging, and understanding, and acceptance.

[Sharon Phillips · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite depressing …. would have appreciated a more humorous look at aging - perhaps something more along the Nora Ephron line ?-
I felt very very old after finishing this book