One of the country's leading literary scholars explores the fascinating question of why some people's creative talents flourish with age while others' fade.
America grows older yet stays focused on its young. Whatever hill we try to climb, we're "over" it by fifty and should that hill involve entertainment or athletics we're finished long before. And if younger is better, it doesn't appear that youngest is best: we want our teachers, doctors, generals, and presidents to have reached a certain age. In context after context and contest after contest, we're more than a little conflicted about elders of the tribe; when is it right to honor them, and when to say "step aside"?
In his new book, Nicholas Delbanco, one of America's most formidable scholars, tackles the enigma of "lastingness," searching for the answers to the question of why some artists' work diminishes with age, and that of others reaches its peak. Both an intellectual inquiry into the essence of aging and creativity and a personal journey of discovery, Lastingness is a brilliant exploration of what determines what one needs to do to keep the habits of creation and achievement alive.
