Breaking the Watch
The topic of retirement becomes increasingly compelling as the U.S. population ages. It's easy to find books about how to plan financially for those years after careers end, but Breaking the Watch focuses on the many ways of creating a life, not just making a living, as a retired person.This book follows women and men from a rural American community as they approach and experience the first years of retirement. Joel Savishinsky focuses on the efforts people make to find meaning in a stage of life American culture often views in a confused or disdainful way.In conversations and stories, 13 men and 13 women demonstrate a deep commitment to defining their own retirement. They bring to their mature years a diversity of backgrounds, interests, and responsibilities. They include former teachers, librarians, doctors, farmers, lawyers, bankers, mail carriers, and secretaries. Some are married, others divorced or single; many have children and grandchildren, but some have neither. Their finances run the gamut from the modest to the munificent, while their health ranges from robust to disabled. From an examination of the "rites of passage" that marked their exit from full-time work, Breaking the Watch moves on to consider how to plan appropriately for retirement; renegotiate ties to friends, family, and community; and create a sense of passion--be it for t'ai chi, travel, painting, or politics--that will drive a new sense of purpose. These intimate glimpses into real lives allow a rare understanding of the retirement process.
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Joel S. Savishinsky is Charles A. Dana Professor in the Social Sciences, Department of Anthropology and the Gerontology Institute at Ithaca College. He is the author of several books, including The Ends of Time: Life and Work in a Nursing Home, winner of the Gerontological Society of America's Kalish Innovative Publication Award.
"The book is organized in a unique way. Each chapter (1-6) is prefaced by a conversation with a retiree and is followed by a set of life stories dealing with the same dilemma. This is where Savishinsky's strategy of letting the participants speak for themselves works superbly with the vivid and eloquent voices.... Overall the book will be a good reader for anyone--lay or expert--who is interested in aging and retirement."
--Shin-Kap Han, University of Illinois "American Journal of Sociology""Retiring means more than just quitting work. It is one of life's major transitions that can carry heavy-duty emotional and psychological issues, involving nothing less than a redefinition of the self. Breaking the Watch: The Meanings of Retirement in America grapples with the meaning and ramifications of this transition.... Mr. Savishinsky... does an admirable job of interviewing his 26 retirees on a wide range of topics and it's the voices of the retirees that power the book."
--Fred Brock "The New York Times""Savishinsky brings his considerable research skills and experience with other projects on aging to bear on this essentially anecdotal study."
-- "Publishers Weekly""Savishinsky treats his readers to very compelling narratives of loss, insight, triumph, and disappointment, told in lovingly crafted prose, weaving the lives of his interviewees together as their own paths cross. His book is an ethnography of retirement but also a guide to doing it well."
--Steven M. Albert, Columbia University "Current Anthropology""This book is an excellent, well-researched volume.... The well-reasoned discussions and thoughtful portraits offered make this a worthwhile purchase for both academic and public libraries."
-- "Library Journal""This book... includes valuable information for younger (and older) readers, too.... The retirees studied here are thoughtful, often eloquent observers of their new position in life; their voices are vivid and enlightening."
--Mary Carroll "Booklist"
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