IF I LIVE TO BE 100 Lessons from the Centenarians

Neenah Ellis originally interviewed centenarians for a series of NPR reports. Among the people she found still active at age 100 are a professor, a black lesbian, a preacher, and a married couple. Their stories are always fascinating, and the last disc contains the original NPR segments featuring the centenarians' own voices. Ellis's quest, she explains, was a personal one. She has long wondered what her life would be like at age 100. My main quibble is that the interviews are grouped at the end, when they might have been more powerful at the start or interspersed throughout the book. I'd recommend starting with Disc 5, but this is still a memorable essay on aging. J.A.S (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 03]