Painting the Walls Red: The Uninhibited Woman's Guide to a Fabulous Life After 40

""Middlescence,"" or that ""messy"" stage in a women's life that begins around her 40th birthday and continues through menopause, can be physically and mentally challenging, but psychotherapist Ford's fluffy suggestions and solutions will likely disappoint readers looking for ways to navigate the choppy waters of midlife. Leaning heavily on feel-good, paragraph-long affirmations (""Wisdom is not slick, it is wrinkled from experience. Wisdom is fresher than knowledge. Wisdom does not come from learning, it comes from living and unlearning.""), Ford, also the author of Single, advises her readers to ""roll around in glitter,"" to ""throw your arms to the heavens and say, 'I'm Alive!'"" to wear strapless bras and to start singing, but provides no medical information to complement her outlandish methods of self-empowerment. Anecdotes about Ford's and her friends' midlife experiences help give this book a faint whisper of direction, but anyone looking for sound, practical advice would best be served by looking elsewhere.