When Jimmy Carter left the White House in 1981, he and his wife, Rosalynn, had to face the same questions many elder Americans encounter when retirement approaches: "How could we accommodate the unpleasant circumstances that had been forced on us? What were our assets and abilities? What were the dependable factors in a good life, and how could we recognise and develop them? Was it at all possible for us to be as satisfied in the future as we had been during some of our most interesting, adventurous, and successful times? Did we have anything much to offer in the years ahead?" In the years since, both Carters have become internationally recognised for their work as authors, teachers, and humanitarians, but as Carter amiably insists in The Virtues of Aging, you don't need to be a former president (or first lady) to make a difference in your life and the lives of others. He urges older Americans to take charge of their lives--by staying active, whether it's through volunteerism or indulgence in personal recreation; by relying on oneself as much as possible; by getting involved with others; and by putting one's affairs in order with an honest self-awareness of the inevitability that even the richest, most rewarding life comes to a close. Like all the books in the Library of Contemporary Thought series, this is a fairly short tome, but it lives up to the best in the series--such as Pete Hamill's News Is a Verb or Seymour Hersh's Against All Enemies --by presenting readers with something to ponder on just about every page.