Preview
  • Elderhood

  • Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life
  • By: Louise Aronson
  • Narrated by: Eliza Foss
  • Length: 18 hrs and 22 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (146 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Elderhood

By: Louise Aronson
Narrated by: Eliza Foss
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $25.00

Buy for $25.00

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Bloomsbury presents Elderhood by Louise Aronson, MD, read by Eliza Foss.

Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction
A New York Times Bestseller
Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction
Winner of the WSU AOS Bonner Book Award
Winner of the 2022 At Home With Growing Older Impact Award

As revelatory as Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal, physician and award-winning author Louise Aronson’s Elderhood is an essential, empathetic look at a vital but often disparaged stage of life.

For more than 5,000 years, "old" has been defined as beginning between the ages of 60 and 70. That means most people alive today will spend more years in elderhood than in childhood, and many will be elders for 40 years or more. Yet at the very moment that humans are living longer than ever before, we’ve made old age into a disease, a condition to be dreaded, denigrated, neglected, and denied.

Reminiscent of Oliver Sacks, noted Harvard-trained geriatrician Louise Aronson uses stories from her quarter century of caring for patients, and draws from history, science, literature, popular culture, and her own life to weave a vision of old age that’s neither nightmare nor utopian fantasy—a vision full of joy, wonder, frustration, outrage, and hope about aging, medicine, and humanity itself.

Elderhood is for anyone who is, in the author's own words, "an aging, i.e., still-breathing human being."
©2019 Louise Aronson, MD (P)2019 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Elderhood

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    91
  • 4 Stars
    33
  • 3 Stars
    13
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    96
  • 4 Stars
    17
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    76
  • 4 Stars
    31
  • 3 Stars
    10
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Scary what lies ahead at my ripe age of 78

Louise, pls move to So FL, I’ll be your first patient in your new practice AND we have no state income tax

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Enlightening and Disturbing

I appreciated the depth of knowledge and experience of this author, but even more her empathy and honesty.
This book helps me begin to look more deeply into my situation and do what I can to plan thoughtfully and realistically with my family as to my remaining years. The systemic issues are daunting and certainly will not be addressed and resolved in the near future but at least I know a little of what I am dealing with.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

This book spoke directly to me

I could to relate to everything in this book.I am 79 and learned a lot about what and why I have been experiencing for the last 20 years. I hope this book brings about the change that is needed in the Healthcare Industry.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Well written but too long

Well written book. Great ideas. Reading was excellent. But the book went on far too long for my tastes.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

The truth about geriatrics in the USA

A bit too long and repetitive but still worth listening or reading—especially if you are old!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

❤❤Aging population

this book is filled with great information
I am all about my seniors. I hold my Bachelors in Human services with a focus in gerontology and was a CNA for four years....I love learning everything about aging. this book was amazing and will be listened to again!!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Doctor with open eyes and full heart tells all of us…

…the truth of our likely path to and through elderhood. I’ve traveled this myself while in and through parents and grandparents. Aronson speaks the truth and offers us the opportunity to prepare ourselves and our loved ones proactively, forsaking denial, embracing reality.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Map for Our Third Act -- Elderhood

I listened to Elderhood as I'm navigating life supporting my 90-year-old mother and 94-year-old father. I'm in the thick of it. I'm grateful for the empathetic companionship, vision and advocacy of Louise Aronson as I strive to honor my incredible parents as they grow more vulnerable and more dear. I'm grateful for her calls for systemic transformation in our healthcare institutions. Hers is a much needed voice in these times.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Truly a great book

As I now find myself having to look out for my father who is in his 90s and dealing with my own reflections on approaching retirement age, this book is a great resource for finding positive energy and reconnecting with things that are important and enjoyable in life. When one gets past the more well known decades one gets exposed to in family and dealings in life, there is yet more to experience and grow from. I was not expecting such a journey with this book, but it is that and more. This book crushed the fears I was harboring and gave me insights into attitudes and the strength that comes from hope for the future.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very thought provoking

This book was beautifully written and narrated. It takes us through the authors childhood, youth, adolescents, young adulthood, medical school, residency, and final career paths. She discusses the areas in medicine that are lacking and not lacking, the prejudices in the medical world. She is factual and objective while giving an understanding to why these behaviors are prevalent in medicine still today. The book makes me sad because it lends very little hope for the future of medicine. Everything is so ingrained in our culture and the culture of medicine, it will take nothing short of a miracle to fix it. My eyes have been opened to the need for change. I am a nurse, and I too recognize the need for a revamping of the medical culture. Until it stops being a business and goes back to taking care of patients instead of our wallets…. Change will cease to happen. It’s a great book that all nurses, and medical students, and doctors young and old, new and experienced should read. Maybe then we will see much needed changes. Great book! Fabulous content!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!