Out to Pasture: (But Not Over the Hill)

by Effie Leland Wilder

Book Overview

HATTIE MCNAIR MAY be retired, but she certainly hasn't retired from life. In journals and letters to a friend, Hattie tells the stories of her fellow residents at a retirement home and of the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1561452653
• ISBN13: 9781561452651
• Release Date: April 2002
• Publisher: Peachtree Publishers
• Length: 177 Pages
• Weight: 0.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

I loved this book!

I am no where near "Out To Pasture" but I found this novel to be delightful. This book has the oddest group of senior citizens you will ever run across. Filled with both serious and light situations this book will make you cry and then laugh. Effie Wilder teaches us that just because you are older your life is still full and the possibilities are endless. Way to go Effie!!

Great book about a forgotten generation

Mrs. Wilder has given all generations a delightful and easy to swallow book about aging. The main character, Hattie, is into everyone's business, but in a kindhearted way. Through her eyes the reader can see much of the pain and joy of being older. Leaving your home and moving into a retirement home is never an easy choice, but I think Hattie shows us that if done with grace, it can work out to be a fairly good life. The book is a joy to read, offers lots of laughs, a few tears, and some good hard lessons about life. I look forward to sharing this book with my "adopted" eighty-four-year-old grandmother.

Excellent Reading ! You will enjoy it.

This humorous short novel rates the "best" reading of the season with me. It goes to show that "you are never too old or too young to learn something new". Effie Leland Wilder says that she was well suited for being a wife and mother. I'm sure she was great, but I wonder what exceptionally delightful literary works she might have written if she would have started her writing career a little earlier. Written in a journal format that is easy to read and understand, this book will keepyou laughing. I found that I didn't want to put it down. This unique book captured my heart, but also lead me to think about aging issues. I'm looking forward to reading her other books.

Funny & helped my mother see that life could still be good.

I bought this book at a time when I could see that we were going to have to find a new, safe place for Mother to live. However, she resisted the thought of moving to an "Old Folks Home", as she put it. She had also fallen into the "I don't want to go anywhere, because it takes too much effort" routine. Since she has always been a very sociable person, she fell into a deep depression. As I read this book to her, we both saw that there was a better alternative for her, as she was not so far along, physically and mentally, as to need a nursing home. After she moved into The Reunion Inn, in Marshall, Tx., I started reading to the residents from this book on a weekly basis. I am scheduled on their monthly calendar as "The Whimsical Reader." The book has allowed the residents to recall a lot of memories, as well as opening their eyes to the humor around them. It has also given them ideas as to how The Reunion Inn can be improved for their convenience. They really liked the idea of the benches across from the cafeteria line. Reading to the residents has given me the opportunity to get to know them better than I probably would have otherwise. This book has given such pleasure to all of us that The Reunion Inn is going to buy the rest of the books in the series so that I can continue reading to their guests. I recommend this book to anyone facing the possibility of moving into or placing their parent in an assisted living facility. It certainly made the decision easier for us.

A lot of wisdom in a lighthearted read!

"Out to Pasture" is one of those rare books that are quick and fun to read, but becomes deeper and deeper the more you reflect on it. Hattie McNare is Huck Finn in a retirement home; a simple character at first glance, but an amazing source of wisdom on reflection. A good book that gets better every time you think of it.