LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS - Tapa dura

Too many older adults look upon their lives as a shrinking island to which they retire surrounded by their aches and pains, regrets, disappointments, and fears. But not Jean and Edna. They are two gutsy septuagenarians with a hearty outlook on life. Like ancient seers, they have found the answers to the perplexities of daily living and they are eager to share our insight. In addition, they review various products they have discovered that lessen “senioritis” or, at least, make it more tolerable.

In these thirty-some, laugh-out-loud essays, Jean and her friend Edna are opinionated and vociferous. They react to everything from malls, manners, and makeup to birthdays, beauty secrets, and bras. They take on underwear, handbags, clutter, airport security, grandkids, napping, habits, pets, health, saleswomen, travel, coffee shops, and weddings. It took Jean and Edna 77 years a piece to figure out life, but they’ve done it with great aplomb.