Nasty, Brutish, and Long: Adventures in Old Age and the World of Eldercare

A psychologist who has worked for years in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, Rosofsky presents a disturbing, often moving account of the lives of some of the two million men and women who reside in America's 18,000 nursing homes. Like the police officer or bartender whose perspective on society is shaped by his work, Rosofsky, who professionally sees only problematic residents of institutions, has a slightly skewed (and very grim) sample. However, the dispiriting tenor of the title and the emphasis on confused and depressed men and women are leavened with the author's bursts of wit, his welcome guidance on how to evaluate nursing homes and assisted-living centers and his frank ruminations on his own aging and health issues and the deaths of his parents and mother-in-law. What could have been a morose account of loss, suffering and death is lightened by the humorous and helpful treatment of an emotionally laden topic. (Mar.)