In Twenty Over Sixty, editors Beth Weinhouse and David Galef gathered twenty stories by authors over sixty, stories that reflect the lives of people over that age. There are as many variations in stories as there are different lifestyles for people. Some of the authors inlcuded in the book are Joyce Carol Oates, Galef, Eileen Pollack, and Richard Bausch.
As with all story collections, some stories will interest the reader more than others. Paul Theroux’s “First Love” stood out for me. A father who didn’t feel welcome in his son and daughter-in-law’s home is a writer. He tries to connect with his grandson by remembering his own middle-school years when he fell in love with a girl for the first time. In Lois Ann Abraham’s “The Death of Harold”, Harold is ready to die, and convinces his wife to help him. By the end of the story, the reader is as ready for him to die as his wife is. “Irwin the Crook” by Joyce M. Yaeger is really the only humorous piece in the book, the story of a couple whose hobby is stealing peppermills from restaurants. “Widow’s Christmas” by Maisie McAdoo is my favorite story. It’s about the widow of a diplomat who traveled with her husband throughout the world. After his death, she returns home to take care of her parents’ home in the midwestern farming community where she grew up. It’s a story of nostalgia and yearning and what might have been.
I’ll admit the stories in Twenty Over Sixty are not always easy ones to read. I disagree with the comment on the back of the ARC, saying the book offers “a wide-ranging portrait of life in later years: vibrant, unexpected, and full of humor, wisdom, and surprise.” I found very little humor. Most of the stories offered loss, bitterness, or illness in old age. Honestly? These aren’t attractive views of life after sixty.
Twenty Over Sixty edited by Beth Weinhouse and David Galef. Regal House Publishing, 2026. 266p.
FTC Full Disclosure – The publisher sent me a copy of the book, with no expectations of a positive review.
