Susan O'Malley

In high school I remember reading about a doctor who cared for end-of-life patients, and he related that if you wanted a glimpse of what was important in life simply spend time with the elderly on their death beds. There you'll hear a lifetime's worth of stories about achievements and disappointments and loves and regrets. And, I should add, there's hardly any mention of being grateful about spending extra time at the office away from family and friends. I immediately felt the need to show more reevaluate my own priorities. Susan O'Malley's Advice from My 80-Year-Old Self reminds me of exactly this.

This book is short and sweet, and you're sure to come across more than one meaningful passage that pertains to you personally. I recommend it. And for fun, try to guess the age of the person giving the quote before peeking. The commonalities between the similar stages of life surprised me.

One more thing... you should certainly read the afterword. I guarantee it will blindside you. It also makes what came before that much more special. I won't say more than that. show less

By turning advice into artfully printed truisms, I can see the point of view that O'Malley sometimes seems to strip away the personal, contextual, and nuanced. One walks through the home decor store and sees discounted framed prints that read "Less is More." "Love Before Chores." But O'Malley's process also "releases" the familiarity these stories offer. As individual as they are, they are also familiar. Knowing is not our need; action is our need. O'Malley makes them into fluorescent show more signposts--the kinds of giant Post-it notes one might hope to catch one's attention and motivate one to action. Somehow this reminds me of the work of Ed Ruscha. They blend into the background as our automatic selves stop seeing the truth in the truisms. show less

This is your quintessential coffee table book - a quick read - pithy sayings and vibrant graphics. It was the final graphic work in the career of Susan O'Malley, who unfortunately died a premature death at age 38 just one week short of delivering twins, who also did not survive. As a result, this book is published with a portion of the sales due to be donated to the Susan O'Malley Memorial Fund for the Arts. I enjoyed reading the "wisdom" collected from talking with various people of all show more ages in public venues around the San Francisco Bay area. Ms. O'Malley took those pithy bits of wisdom and expressed them graphically using different colors, fonts, and sizes of type. This is not your great American novel, nor is it a real "self-help" book. It is a graphic representation by an artist of words of wisdom from people of all ages. I'll enjoy looking at it again periodically. show less

This book was just what I needed! I loved the advice from people my age, but I can see myself referring back to the book as I grow older. I really enjoyed the afterword from Susan's friend. It was really sweet to read about the "pep squad." This book is definitely a keeper!