Fifty and Other F-Words: Reflections from the Rearview Mirror

by Margot Potter

In the spirit of Nora Ephron meets Chelsea Handler meets David Sedaris, Margot Potter offers her humorously edgy perspective on navigating life after 50.    
 
If you’re a woman over 50, you probably feel invisible, or shackled by rules that say what you can and can’t do now that you’ve gotten older. But Margot Potter is here to say—in the most hilarious way—that, no matter what your age, you can still be a kick-ass warrior woman! With a cool “nasty woman” attitude, and loads of humor, Margot tells it like it is, smashing stereotypes in her witty essays, poems, listicles, and observations about aging in our youth-obsessed society. With neither bitterness nor sugar-coated reality, Fifty and Other F-Words will hit home with powerful, persistent women who grew up in the post-punk era; subscribed to magazines like Jane , Bust , and Bitch ; put on their pink hats to march on DC; and never, ever conform.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir

224 pages, Hardcover

Published May 1, 2018

Reviews

[Tracey Rieger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exactly the message I wanted/needed to hear.

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carpe Gaudium with Margot Potter!

Margot Potter has written an in-your-face, hilarious, brilliant and worthwhile playbook for those of us who are searching for guidance concerning anything which has confronted us since we turned fifty.
In fact, if you are younger, yet you want to be enlightened, or you are older (as I am) and need to understand what the midlife crisis is all about, this book has you covered. It is even great for men! It has something for everyone!
The author is a brilliant and thoughtful writer who will help you understand why the world is the way it is--whether she is discussing why it is difficult to get a job after age 50, why we all fool ourselves into thinking a certain beauty cream is going to transform us into the 20 year olds we once were, or why the heck politics is so heartbreaking. She covers the small and the large things in our lives in a wonderful manner.
Fifty and Other F-Words: Reflections from the Rearview Mirror is a timely yet timeless collection of observations on real life. It has it all: love, beauty, humor, and some great surprises I would never reveal. Just buy it and read it--You will be glad you did!

[Joy · Rating 2 out of 5]

For $2 I thought I'd give it a try...was looking for something funny and this sounded like it would be. It did start out kind of funny, all the great things to look forward to when we turn 50 with a funny spin. It certainly had a lot of F-words and other colorful language which I should have realized by the title but what was I thinking?...I could relate to her hate of mayo and love for cheez-it! And understand that no one really does likes kale! (It is or decoration!!) I liked that she encourages women to support each other and appreciated most of what she had to say about that, but after the funny parts it turned into a weird kind of rant and was no longer fun to read. I didn't know who she was when I picked it up so I looked her up and love her pink hair! :)

[Tracey Gemmell · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining and often hilarious look at growing older disgracefully. Covering many topics most of us would never dare discuss in polite company, Margot Potter tells us never to give up on being heard and seen as we age. The last couple of chapters seemed to depart from the humor of prior chapters and became a little preachy. I was occasionally confused by the seeming flip-flop from "Don't do anything to deflect from your real age" to "I got Botox and dyed my hair pink, but it was for me." But maybe that's the author's point - Botox and pink hair can be for any age for any reason as long as you're happy with it. A fun read.

[Laurie Biggs Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Margot is a funny, frank, fearless feminist and this book is full of fabulous f-words and a whole lot of other words that don’t start with F but are worth reading.

Chapters are broken up into short essays that can be consumed in a long stretch in the hammock, or in short spurts between appointments or before bed.

I especially liked her encouragement for women to stop tearing each other down, but to build each other up instead. Speaks to my Tribe of Women work, and I can always use a new woman in MY tribe!

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a prize from the good folks at Sterling Publishing and I am happily sharing it this summer at my library's summer reading program as a prize for adult readers. As a 50-something myself, I felt compelled to read Margot's story (although I did not recognize the name from the her appearances on DIY!)

She is funny and right on point when she talks about the downfalls (literally) of aging and fighting the battles of the bulges after 50.

[April Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, it's like going out to lunch with a friend and dishing about everything, the good, the bad, and the ugly. You'll laugh, you might cry a bit, you'll feel righteous indignation, and you'll feel better, 'cause Margot understands you. She gets what you're going through, and she's here to tell you she's going through it too, and together we'll overcome. This is one of your best girlfriends in book form, and she's got your back!

[Susanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started out promising — funny, insightful, relatable. Then it kind of turned into a mishmash of various thoughts and reflections, sometimes in quirky fonts. To be fair, I don’t know Margot Potter’s work and was looking for more insights on empty nesting, which is a chapter but doesn’t have much meat to it. The title is accurate — it’s “reflections” by Potter — but I was expecting something more cohesive.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Occasionally, I read a book I like to flatter myself into thinking was hijacked from my very own thoughts. This is that book. (But much more hilarious, well-ordered, and detailed than my own jumbled thoughts. Suffice it to say I relate to this book...quite literally...on a cellular level.)

[Andria Bieber · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book!!! highly recommended, enjoyable read.

[Lesa Parnham · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm always looking for something funny to read, this was not it.

[Kirsten Prange · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are newly fifty you will definitely be able to relate!