Miranda Sawyer
Out of Time
As the author says not a self help book but her experiences. The plus sides are shared experiences as to what life was like when we were younger and what it's like moving into middle age with long term relationships, responsibilities and kids. The downside is that it feels a little bit smug about what a great time Miranda used to have when young and I feel a bit of that smugness too. I don't necessarily agree with the basic premise of mid life crisis books as they all assume that we all have some frustrated objectives in life. Many of us just live it and what comes with it and never did want to trek up Killamanjaro as part of a Price Waterhouse Coopers sponsored charity event. I know Miranda and can imagine her telling these anecdotes. She's the chair of the Catholic school where I'm a governor (the only non Catholic) and as such is now a converted Catholic. Maybe that's how she's come to terms with death which she devotes a fair bit of time to. On that note... the remarks about the nurses who looked after her gran are way way out of order. Don't blame the hospital staff for how this country treats those who are near death. They are doing their jobs under very difficult circumstances especially if it was an NHS hospital. That ruined the book for me and made the smugness seem more like expected privilege.
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