The midlife crisis book inhabits a behemoth literary genre. It spans the feel-good fantasy of Eat, Pray, Love; the survival of "ordinary disasters" and meditation on mortality that is Martin Amis' Experience; and the chintz-patterned glasses through which Anna Quindlen envisions the padded retreat into her prime real estate-ensconced years. But as my 50th birthday approached, none of these titles were cutting through my mid-life malaise. Urgency drove me to these three essential reads, which are now as indispensable as my hormone replacement therapy.
Actress and writer Annabelle Gurwitch is the author ofI See You Made An Effort: Compliments, Indignities, and Survival Stories From the Edge of 50.
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