The premise of the book is great and the author really delivers. Great read. Highly recommended. .

There are No Grown-ups: A Midlife Coming-of-Age Story

3.5 aching joints
nonfiction/essays


Middle age is semi-horrifying and not for the faint of heart. Best selling author Pamela Druckerman (Bringing up BéBé) delivers essays on aging in comical prose that may bring you comfort when you learn that other women have hair there too. Druckerman has a unique perspective as an American living in France where opinions on aging, sex, fashion, parenting, food...often vary wildly from our own . Each chapter begins with a “You know you’re in your 40’s when” list. These might be the best part of the book. With observations like “You sometimes wake up hungover even when you’ve had nothing to drink” and “You’re not considering Botox, but you are considering bangs”, you’ll laugh, you’ll cringe but you’ll know for sure you are not alone in the journey through your 40’s.

I really enjoyed this. I didn’t feel like this book was about being afraid of aging or trying to stay young. It was more a recognition that people you thought were “old” and “adults” when you were younger were probably still trying to figure it all out just as you are now that you’re “older” and “an adult.” It was a reassurance for those of us who don’t quite feel like we’ve reached that adult stage even though our age implies we should have. The author showed that in your 40s you’re still learning about yourself, others, and the world around you. It was nice to read the perspective of a kindred spirit who is still figuring things out as she goes along and isn’t afraid to admit it.

This book made me feel depressed and anxious. it did try to be funny . But it didn't cut it for me.
I was expecting it to funny because it's tittle.. but I don't think infidelity should be encouraged.
I'm in my mid 30s and married for 5 years.

As a woman on the downhill slide of her forties, I thought this book was hilarious! Wish I would have read it earlier. I could relate to so many things--scrolling to get to to your birth year on electronic forms, hair suddenly appearing on your body in places it wasn't before, crossing over from trendy clothes to age appropriate.....so many things!

If you are 40 or older, this book is great for a laugh and maybe learning a little something about yourself. Over Forty you can be fabulous! This would be a great book club read for a group of friends in the 40's--lots of laughs!

Funny, good one. Liked it. 'You know everyone is winging it, some just do it more confidently.' (truer words were never spoken)

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC.

I admit I could not go back the 76% mark for this book. Maybe this book was not for me. I am younger than 40 but I was hoping for a more balance. This book gives a wonderful understanding of an American in France. What it lacks is a sense of adulthood, what kind of person truly gets freaked out by just being asked about their age. It’s just a number people. I have seen 80 year old that act, look, and feel like 40 years old and I have seen 40 year old look, act, and feel like they are 80. It’s just a number and by the time your 40 you should be past meaningless things like that. This could be the book for someone else but the stories in it was underwhelming to me and I just did not feel a connection to this title.

I love Pamela Druckerman's writing style and absolutely enjoyed Bringing Up Bebe. Unfortunately this book was too literal in it's being about the experience for women in their 40's. It was not relevant for me, even in my mid 30's.

Sometimes I like to pick up a book that I think will teach me something about life and living and when I saw the title of this one it was a visual clue about how I had been feeling. I am a thirty-something, who really loves books that are 'too young' for her, I am ok with that, but at this point in my mother's life she already had a family and was an adult. I go through my days never really feeling like an adult or a grown-up unless I am paying bills and I though this book would give me some insight into that feeling.

Based on the synopsis I expected some humor, but also that a lot of it might be over my head - again I am in my thirties and the author is using this book to write about being in your forties. There were some times when I connected with the book, but most of the time, not so much. It was a good read though.

I think my major turn off what that only about half of it seemed like a personal journey, while the rest was interviews and research about various topics. Some of those I was interested in - there was a lot of Psychology talk and I am a fan of that, but it left me feeling more disconnected to the author.

What I expected was a witty coming-of-age forty rant/ life lesson overview and what I mostly found was something way too serious and a little depressing for my liking. I know that people change as they get older but I really hope some things just stay the same.

I am happy with who I am, a reader of books that are geared to others below my age group, a nerd who will still love Harry Potter even when she hits 40, who still thinks that maybe somewhere Fairies are real (come on, people can believe in angels but Fae are off limits?! I don't get it), and someone who really believes that there are no grown-ups just people pretending all the time... that is kind of what I wanted to get out of this book, and I kind of did, but the overall tone was very different from what I expected.

I read There Are No Grown-ups in the days leading up to my 40th birthday, and although it wasn't the book I thought I wanted, it was the book I needed. Gone are the bright eyed starry days of Bringing Up Bebe; in their place is a healthy dose of reality about the emotional and physical changes that come with aging. Anyone looking for books about mid-life aging will appreciate Druckerman's stories and witty writing style.

This was a quick but entertaining read. Although written from the perspective of one who’s turned 40, it would appeal to anyone over the age of 30, as well.

I really enjoyed Ms Druckerman's previous book, Bringing Up Bebe, so I was excited to read her take on getting older. I found this book to be very relatable and fun to read.

I'm not sure I'd read this book again but it offered some hours of amusement. Druckerman shares relatable and diverting stories about her life, especially about growing into a middle-aged woman. At certain points, she is effortlessly humourous, when at others, she comes across as trying really hard to be funny. The former suits her and the book very well, the latter was a bit disappointing.

Yet, I enjoyed to read her take on aging and (even as someone in her 20s) I could relate to certain experiences she revealed. I'm also convinced that her husband is a really interesting person, and I'm curious about how he would narrate some of the happenings we could learn about in his wife's interpretation.

One minor mistake that really bothered me was misspelling the name of Jane Austen as "Austin," and I think this spelling error might make other JA fans nervous, too.

Unfortunately the book just did not resonate with me. Despite being a similar age and married with children, i just could not really relate to the author and her journey. I do think a lot of people will. It is written well, an easy and quick read, and very honest. I recommend the book to others who will find themselves in her story, it just was not me.

The blurb looked interesting and funny but unfortunately the book as a whole was much less so and very self absorbed. The author rambles on about maturity and discovering her 40s but by the end, she just seemed to accept that she's growing old rather than arrive at any stunning understanding.