Age

Everyone wants to live to a ripe old age. But nobody wants to be old.

We are getting older. Inevitably, both as individuals and as a society. It won't be long before seniors represent a significant portion of the population. Yet we continue to be governed by a culture of youth. Old age is therefore still foreign to many, unimaginable, perhaps even terrifying. Every person therefore faces ageing as a challenge, as something that no one teaches us and for which we have no role models. In her book-length essay, author Elke Heidenreich draws inspiration from literature and philosophy and looks at old age optimistically and at the same time frankly. She acknowledges the problems of the body and the consequences of everything a person has gone through in life. She tries to cope with modern challenges, whether it's discriminatory technology or scammers targeting seniors. And in doing so, she notices how everything is losing its former importance and urgency and how liberating ageing can be.

Der Spiegel Bestseller

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Sentimentality, melancholy, or even fear are definitely not in Elke Heidenreich's vocabulary. If she has any domain, it is literature. It is therefore not surprising that her personal essay is a colourful collage of thoughts and texts. A beautiful book.
— Süddeutsche Zeitung