How do the elderly manage to give meaning to their daily lives? Fontana has spent three years watching and talking to an enormous variety of old people: those who can afford to "grow old gracefully", the elderly poor who scrape by in urban ghettos, and those who age behind the walls of nursing homes. He lets them speak for themselves, and what they say is often surprising: it destroys many of our most cherished assumptions about aging. This book provides fundamental insights into ways to age with dignity and sense. -- Publisher description.