No Aging in India: Alzheimer's, Bad Families, and Other Modern Things

by Lawrence Cohen and Lawrence J. Cohen

Book Overview

From the opening sequence, in which mid-nineteenth-century Indian fishermen hear the possibility of redemption in an old woman's madness, No Aging in India captures the reader with its interplay of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0520083962
• ISBN13: 9780520083967
• Release Date: July 1998
• Publisher: University of California Press
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

beautifully written, if thickly argued

Cohen, in a wonderfully written ethnography, makes us question the categories of Alzheimer's, aging, and dementia by systematically destabilizing our notions of what it means to get old in both our own and India's culture. A worth-while read for anyone interesting in any of the above. However, be forewarned - the text is dense and takes some time to wade through - and it could be suggested that by making so many arguments in so short a span, the book's main thrust isn't there at all, much like Alzheimer's itself.

Approachable, yet profound

As a medical student beginning research on Alzheimer's disease, this book provided me a deeper understanding of the full ramifications of such a disease on the lives of the patient and family members. The interactions described in this book are really quite complicated, yet the clear writing and organization makes this subject matter approachable.

absolutely first rate

professor cohen may be the most brilliant anthropologist of our time as it pertains to south asia. this book is a sparkling example of a prodigious mind at work. it is both scholarly and playful; rigorous and light-hearted. may be read for both pleasure and for what it can teach us about all manner of things. may be the beat scholarly work i have ever read. first-rate.

1998 Winner of Victor Turner Prize for Ethnographic Writing

Brilliant ethnographic research fused with engaging narrative that makes for truly enjoyable reading. Cohen dissects the phenomenon of an aging population and their role in culture and society, while explaining the greater implications both for policy and popular opinion, with reflections on US and Western societies.