More Rules for Aging: Making the Most of Your Ridiculous, Wondrous Life

Roger Rosenblatt’s Rules for Aging was a major national bestseller when it burst onto the scene “the humorous, thinking man’s self-help book” (Newsday) twenty-five years ago. Now, Roger is back with even more bang. More Rules for Aging contains nearly twice as many rules, so is nearly twice as instructive and nearly twice as funny. As with the original, the laughs engendered are laughs at oneself: “Nobody is thinking about you,” “Run when they say, ‘We must do this again,’” et al. The key to enjoying this book is a willingness to turn every commonly held supposition on its head. A rule such as “The three 'reallys' rule” shows how to spot when people don’t mean what they say. “Screw it up royally” speaks to the indispensable value of making mistakes. Roger very much hopes that you will buy this book, for yourself, your loved ones, your friends young and old, so that he may live the luxurious life to which he has yet to be accustomed. Of course, that would require that you think about Roger, and not about yourself. Thus Roger violates his own rule. He is already thinking about you.

ROGER ROSENBLATT, whose work has been published in 14 languages, is the author of five New York Times Notable Books of the Year, and three Times bestsellers, including the memoirs KAYAK MORNING, THE BOY DETECTIVE, and MAKING TOAST, originally an essay in the New Yorker. His newest book is THE STORY I AM, a collection on writing and the writing life.

Rosenblatt has also written seven off-Broadway plays, notably the one-person Free Speech in America, that he performed at the American Place Theater, named one of the Times's "Ten Best Plays of 1991." Last spring at the Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, he performed and played piano in his play, Lives in the Basement, Does Nothing, which will go to the Staller Center for the Arts at Stony Brook, and the Flea Theater in New York in 2021. He also wrote the screenplay for his bestselling novel LAPHAM RISING, to star Frank Langella, Stockard Channing, and Bobby Cannavale, currently in production.

The Distinguished Professor of English and Writing at SUNY Stony Brook/Southampton, he formerly held the Briggs-Copeland appointment in creative writing at Harvard, where he earned his Ph.D. Among his honors are two George Polk Awards; the Peabody, and the Emmy, for his essays at Time magazine and on PBS; a Fulbright to Ireland, where he played on the Irish International Basketball Team; seven honorary doctorates; the Kenyon Review Award for Lifetime Literary Achievement; and the President's Medal from the Chautauqua Institution for his body of work.

Praise for MORE RULES FOR AGING

“More Rules for Aging is a delightful companion to the earlier Rules for Aging. It is also a delightful companion to anyone in need of consolation, wisdom, and maybe a good get over yourself laugh as the years pile up. Roger Rosenblatt reminds us, with warmth and good humor and not a little chagrin, that to live is to age, so get on with it.” —Alice McDermott, author of The Ninth Hour and winner of the National Book Award

Praise for the original RULES FOR AGING

“A hilarious guide to life. . . . Delightfully smart and to the point. . . . Bottom Line: Laughter and wisdom.” —PEOPLE

“There are way too many self-help books full of ‘gems,’ ‘rules,’ or humorous daily musings out there. But [Rules for Aging] actually inspires. . . . Rosenblatt sets himself apart from his rivals by not being too clever for his own good. He’s real. His advice rocks.” —THE TORONTO STAR

“No matter how you feel now, you’ll feel a lot better about getting older after you’ve read this book. Rosenblatt is bright, funny and tells it like it is.” —ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

“Need an antidote for all the positive thinking? Try Rules for Aging. . . . Full of rueful tongue-in-cheek misanthropy, it will seek out every cavity you’ve got and fill it with gold.” —BOOKPAGE

“With its mix of bite-size aphorisms and literary erudition, Rosenblatt’s primer reads like a charming cross between Ambrose Bierce and Michel de Montaigne.” —THE ADVOCATE (BATON ROUGE)