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You Oughta See Me
Naked: Life after Eighty – A Seriously Funny Report from the Slippery Slope by
Ed Bartlett
Here is an inside look at
life on the slippery slope, by a man long past his “expire date,” savoring the
perks few live long enough to enjoy: watching other people work, being
outspoken without fear of physical reprisal (except for feeble jousts among the
geezers), saying “no” to doctors ... delving into subjects like traveling the
world, where we go when we die, the joys of dementia, what it’s like being a
ghost, and the hazards of a grave's edge romance.
Sneak Peak
“She’d been very sexy at sweet sixteen in her bobby sox and saddle shoes, but she’d be my age now. I asked her to lunch. She was probably as stunned as I at the changes wind, rain, gravity and aggravation had wrought. I was a mostly bald bewhiskered relic, holding my stomach in, and she was a powdered and perfumed granny acting kittenish and fussing with her hair. It was uncanny how as we talked I’d get a glimpse of the sixteen-year-old I’d known in 1946. She was the same girl under the wrinkles and I got a little tingle once or twice.”
About the book: “She’d been very sexy at sweet sixteen in her bobby sox and saddle shoes, but she’d be my age now. I asked her to lunch. She was probably as stunned as I at the changes wind, rain, gravity and aggravation had wrought. I was a mostly bald bewhiskered relic, holding my stomach in, and she was a powdered and perfumed granny acting kittenish and fussing with her hair. It was uncanny how as we talked I’d get a glimpse of the sixteen-year-old I’d known in 1946. She was the same girl under the wrinkles and I got a little tingle once or twice.”
You Oughta See MeNaked: Life after Eighty by Ed Bartlett
ISBN: 978-1505646665
Publisher: CreateSpace
Date of publish: February 2015
Pages: 167
S.R.P.: $12.97
About the author:
Born in Kansas City, now living in Fort Scott, Kansas, Ed grew up in Ohio and Kansas, married two terrific women and raised four kids who have produced eight of their own. Since his daddy died of a heart attack a month before his fortieth birthday, he’d been dubious about his long term prospects, so at twenty-four, he made a plan. If still alive, he would drop out of the system before fifty, no matter what, and spend his remaining years seeing the world, courting beautiful women, reading (and writing) good books etc. At forty, he sighed with relief and hurried on, looking over his shoulder, and followed the plan, dropping out at forty-six. At fifty, he was so encouraged, he decided to shoot for the new millennium, where he’d be seventy, vowing to ask for nothing more beyond that great age. Now, at eighty-something, still breathing and feeling grateful, he’s going for one-hundred, and writing this book to share the stories and the wonder of it all.
Born in Kansas City, now living in Fort Scott, Kansas, Ed grew up in Ohio and Kansas, married two terrific women and raised four kids who have produced eight of their own. Since his daddy died of a heart attack a month before his fortieth birthday, he’d been dubious about his long term prospects, so at twenty-four, he made a plan. If still alive, he would drop out of the system before fifty, no matter what, and spend his remaining years seeing the world, courting beautiful women, reading (and writing) good books etc. At forty, he sighed with relief and hurried on, looking over his shoulder, and followed the plan, dropping out at forty-six. At fifty, he was so encouraged, he decided to shoot for the new millennium, where he’d be seventy, vowing to ask for nothing more beyond that great age. Now, at eighty-something, still breathing and feeling grateful, he’s going for one-hundred, and writing this book to share the stories and the wonder of it all.
Purchase You Oughta See Me Naked on Amazon.
Our ThoughtsI don't know what I expected when I started to read You Oughta See Me Naked; I thought it might be a nice memoir, like the one my grandmother wrote detailing the family history with a lot of anecdotes and family photos.
At first I had a bit of a hard time getting into Ed Bartlett's writing, but that's not his fault - I had reserved this book for reading while I waited in the lobby at my son's SP/OT/PT therapy appointments (which are usually 3x per week, an hour at a crack) - and you wouldn't believe the amount of Chatty Cathy's in the lobby that flock to you as soon as they see you are *trying* to read a book! Once I was able to devote more than 3 minutes at a time to it, I really enjoyed You Oughta See Me Naked! When Ed really got into the story of his life, it was hard to put this book down. Ed has had so many extraordinary life experiences - from relationships, to jobs, living, friends, and travel - which takes place not only all over the US, but all over the world, too, and writes fondly of them all. I loved the descriptions of the places he's lived and visited, and the people he's met.
Ed writes what it's like to get older - the different changes your body goes through. He has a positive outlook on the slips of the mind - view them as adventures! This is one guy who has certainly enjoyed his ride in life so far, and is determined to enjoy it to the very end.
Thanks Ed, for a highly entertaining book!
