Denver, CO -- (SBWire) -- 07/29/2013 --Stanley Yokell is delighted to announce the launch of 'Old People'.
By Elizabeth McCrary. This five-star review is from: Old People (Paperback)
“I picked up this book, Old People, by Stanley Yokell, thinking that it would be good for a quick read, something to help pass the time in bed while I wait for my husband to follow me in and turn out the lights for the night. What I wasn't really expecting was that I would actually love this book. It was marvelously written and kind of had a chicken soup feel while I was reading it.
The book is an accounting of Mr. Yokell's observations at the home that he is a resident of: A place called, appropriately enough, The Rest Place. The stories have a wide range of characters with an equally wide range of personalities and characteristics. From Alice, mother of Bittersweet, who refuses to come into the modern age by letting her daughter buy her a computer and can't help but complain every time her daughter visits even though she promises herself that she won’t. To Marguerite, who's deceased husband failed to leave her amount in his will that she deemed adequate. And Sam, who reminiscences to his dinner partners about how he and his brother used to cover for each other when one would skip school, and then Sam, who claimed to sign his father's name better than his father, would sign off on the truancy card.
These are just three of the many memorable characters presented in this book. And every one of them are entertaining to the reader. The stories cover the range of emotions, from making the reader laugh to causing them to want to cry. Each story was very well written, made good use of detail, and provoked the appropriate emotional response. I have seen that Mr. Yokell has a couple other titles available, and I think that I will be checking them out. If they are as entertaining as this book, then they will be very much worth a read.”
This review is by editor@selfpublishingreview.com:
“This book is a collection of interconnected stories about just what the title says: Old People. The loosely connected characters recur throughout the stories. One couple, Sam and Evie Jokel, are the primary characters, and they anchor the stories. The stories follow the Jokels from their retirement to Sam's eventual move to The Rest Place, a retirement community in Boulder, but include many stories about other characters. Though the stories cover several years, the book is nicely organized from winter to winter, ending on New Year's Day, reflecting the metaphor of life as one calendar year.
The first story, "Guilt Trip," is a pitch-perfect rendition of a stereotypical old woman grousing about how she is not being treated fairly by her grown children, refusing to get a computer or cell phone (which would make it easier for her daughter to keep in touch), and telling and retelling stories of old slights and resentments. The author seems to have a keen ear for his neighbors in the real-life retirement community where he lives. (One assumes that Sam Jokel is a thinly veiled representation of the author, Stan Yokell. If so, there is a nice little joke in the change of the spelling.) Not all of the characters, nor all the stories, are so exasperating as the woman in "Guilt Trip." In "Grand Parenting" we see the characters at their most loveable, as they interact with their grandchildren and enjoy skiing and bicycling. "Good God What A Mess" is probably my favorite of the lot. The ending is surprisingly funny. It is almost as if the entire story is a set up to that gag.
Throughout the book the old people tell many stories about their childhoods and youths. It seems that as the "year" goes on, there is more looking back and less engagement with the current world. It is not clear if this has to do with advancing age or living in a retirement community, as the recurring characters are doing by the end of the book. The characters seem more likeable when they are spending time with children and grandchildren, less so when they are living in The Rest Place.
The characters in these stories are members of that group of people Tom Brokaw dubbed the "The Greatest Generation," many of them veterans of World War II or spouses of WWII veterans. For the most part, they fit the stereotypes of this demographic, from the cranky woman who can't stop complaining that her daughter doesn't visit often enough to the braggarts at the community dining table trying to one-up each other at Scrabble and crossword puzzles; from the low-grade bickering among themselves to repeated comments that often imply and occasionally come right out and say how much better their generation was at almost everything.
The stories are sweet and often amusing, but somewhat thin, with little action and lots of backstory on the characters, their children, and friends. This is not burdensome, and in some cases it is necessary, but it would have been nice to have learned about the characters through their actions, with the backstory having been served up in smaller bites and the characters revealed thorough more dialog and action.
The stories deal with many of the challenges of aging: losing friends and loved ones, facing dementia, and making hard choices about independence and security. Because all of the characters, as well as their children, are financially well-off, they have more options than many, but these stories are a gentle reminder that no matter what your socio-economic status, getting old is not for sissies. The heart of the book, however, is the relationship between Sam and Evie, a heartwarming, and at times heartbreaking, love story. The subtle changes in Sam after he moves into The Rest Place are very realistic, if somewhat depressing. The book ends, however, on a surprisingly neutral note, neither particularly sad nor uplifting, just very realistic.”
A Reader’s comment on Facebook
“Rich Schad While reading I felt like a ghost in the room eavesdropping on Old People and learning from the intersections of their lives.”
The author’s other books are:
A Working Guide to Shell-and-Tube Heat Exchangers, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1990.
Tubular Heat Exchanger Inspection, Maintenance and Repair, written with Carl F. Andreone, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1997
The Ship, Xlibris, Philadelphia, 2007
The Ride, Xlibris, Philadelphia, 2008, written under the pen name Stanley Israel
Dog Stories, Xlibris, Philadelphia, 2009
A Happy Life, Amazon.com, New York 2011
An Old Timer’s Scuba Tales, Amazon.com, New York, 2012
Murder at Plato House, Vanguard Media, 2012.
House of Mirrors, Amorous Ink, Indianapolis, 2011, written under the pen name S. Israel
Love, Sex and Erotic, Amorous Ink, Indianapolis, 2012, written under the pen name S. Israel
Binding: Perfect-bound paperback
Press run: Print to Order
Price: $9
Page count: 135
Publication date: December, 17, 2012
ISBN: 9781489575128
Available locations: Amazon.com, Bookstores, and the author
About the author: Stanley Yokell
Stanley Yokell’s primary occupation is Consulting Engineering. He specializes in Tubular Heat Transfer Equipment. Mr. Yokell is a Fellow of the ASME and a long-standing member of many technical societies. He writes as an avocation to enable him to express is incisive observations of the people he has observed in the world around him.
