My Last Eight Thousand Days

An American Male in His Seventies

By: Lee Gutkind

Narrated by: Johnny Heller

As founding editor of Creative Nonfiction and architect of the genre, Lee Gutkind played a crucial role in establishing literary, narrative nonfiction in the marketplace and in the academy. A longstanding advocate of new journalism, he has reported on a wide range of issues - robots and artificial intelligence, mental illness, organ transplants, veterinarians and animals, baseball, motorcycle enthusiasts - and explored them all with his unique voice and approach.

In My Last Eight Thousand Days, Gutkind turns his notepad and tape recorder inward, using his skills as an immersion journalist to perform a deep dive on himself. Here, he offers a memoir of his life as a journalist, editor, husband, father, and Pittsburgh native, not only recounting his many triumphs, but also exposing his missteps and challenges. The overarching concern that frames these brave, often confessional stories, is his obsession and fascination with aging: how aging provoked anxieties and unearthed long-rooted tensions, and how he came to accept, even enjoy, his mental and physical decline. Gutkind documents the realities of aging with the characteristically blunt, melancholic wit and authenticity that drive the quiet force of all his work.

©2020 Lee Gutkind (P)2021 Tantor

My Hometown

This memoir included much about my hometown. At 70, I was able to identify with several life events of the author. seemed like an honest portrail of the author's life..My husband was an undergrad writing major. He recalled your name as a faculty member. Went on for MSW. We enjoyed you reminiscence as we are 71. Enjoyed Shadyside thru all phases. Too many chain retail stores. Miss the Balcony on Walnut.

Just what I needed

The truth of getting older is not complicated, accept that our denial makes it so. Still, hearing Gutkind share his truth sheds light on the specter that stands just out of sight.