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.
Growing Old  By  cover art

Growing Old

By: Elizabeth Marshall Thomas
Narrated by: Sara Sheckells
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $19.79

Buy for $19.79

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

From the revered author of the best-selling The Hidden Life of Dogs, a witty, engaging, life-affirming account of the joy, strength, and wisdom that comes with age.

Elizabeth Marshall Thomas has spent a lifetime observing the natural world, chronicling the customs of precontact hunter-gatherers and the secret lives of deer and dogs. In this audiobook, the capstone of her long career, Thomas, now 88, turns her keen eye to her own life. The result is an account of growing old that is at once funny and charming and intimate and profound, both a memoir and a life-affirming map all of us may follow to embrace our later years with grace and dignity.

A charmingly intimate account and a broad look at the social and historical traditions related to aging, Growing Old explores a wide range of issues connected with growing older, from stereotypes of the elderly as burdensome to the methods of burial humans have used throughout history to how to deal with a concerned neighbor who assumes you’re buying cat food to eat for dinner.

Written with the wit of Nora Ephron's I Feel Bad About My Neck and the lyrical beauty and serene wisdom of When Breath Becomes Air, Growing Old is an expansive and deeply personal paean to the beauty and the brevity of life that offers understanding for everyone, regardless of age.

©2020 Elizabeth Marshall Thomas (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers

What listeners say about Growing Old

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1

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

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

Not Very Informative or Engaging

The book is divided into two parts: the first part is about the physical changes of aging, and the second part is about the emotional and spiritual changes of aging. The first part of the book is informative, but it is also quite dry. Thomas goes into great detail about the physical changes that happen to our bodies as we age, and she does so in a way that is not particularly engaging. The second part of the book is more interesting, but it is also more abstract. Thomas talks about the emotional and spiritual challenges of aging, and she offers some advice on how to cope with these challenges. However, her advice is often vague and platitudinous. Overall, I found Growing Old to be a mediocre book. It is informative, but it is not particularly engaging or insightful. If you are looking for a book about aging, I would recommend something else.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Narrator is hard to listen to

The narrator’s timbre, phrasing and uneven reading pace are difficult to listen to. I would need to purchase the book.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful