Come of Age
The Case for Elderhood in a Time of Trouble
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Come of Age
Narrated by:
Stephen Jenkinson
Buy Now for $42.99
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Narrated by:
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Stephen Jenkinson
About this listen
Come of Age does not offer tips on how to be a better senior citizen or how to be kinder to our elders. Rather, with lyrical prose and incisive insight, Stephen Jenkinson explores the great paradox of elderhood in North America: how we are awash in the aged and yet somehow lacking in wisdom; how we relegate senior citizens to the corner of the house while simultaneously heralding them as sage elders simply by virtue of their age. Our own unreconciled relationship with what it means to be an elder has yielded a culture nearly bereft of them. Meanwhile, the planet boils, and the younger generation boils with anger over being left an environment and sociopolitical landscape deeply scarred and broken.
Taking on the sacred cow of the family, Jenkinson argues that elderhood is a function rather than an identity—it is not a position earned simply by the number of years on the planet or the title “parent” or “grandparent.” As with his seminal book Die Wise, Jenkinson interweaves rich personal stories with iconoclastic observations that will leave readers radically rethinking their concept of what it takes to be an elder and the risks of doing otherwise. Part critique, part call to action, Come of Age is a love song inviting us—imploring us—to elderhood in this time of trouble. That time is now. We’re an hour before dawn, and first light will show the carnage, or the courage, we bequeath to the generations to come.
Just loved it. Language like poetry.
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Depth of Heart
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I actually just saw the author last night, doing a talk to promote the book, and it was an immense pleasure and privilege. He is such an incredible person, it would be hard to know where to start describing him or his fine work.
The subject of matter of the book is fascinating and needed now, taken deeply and reverently and with real, full-ranging Wonder, which includes a 'solutionless lament' where so many books try to fill our post-modern bellies with the promise of all-encompassing truth... but as Jenkinson said last night, knowing something does not make it true, and therein lies the rub.
I'm 37 and reading these hallowed pages was a certain relief to me, as it explained a longing for something unxplainedly lost and suggests that the Elder Function (not specific to any one individual) is something that responds to the search for and recognition of it, meaning that with attention and a spiraling back in what it means to belong for humanity, we may sing the Elders into our midst again, when we need them most.
I give heart-felt praise and thanks to Stephen Jenkinson.
P.S. if you haven't read his first book Die Wise, I would suggest you do that first.
Read twice!
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Deep listening.
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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.