Nasty, brutish, and long

by Ira Rosofsky

A coming of old-age story.In nursing homes across the country, members of the Greatest Generation are living out their last days. No matter how exciting or mundane their lives, theyre now occupying a hospital-style rooma public space where you cant lock your door and strangers come and go. Life is a succession of pokes and prods, medications, TV, bingo, and, possibly, talking to Ira Rosofsky.Nasty, Brutish, and Long is a candid, humane, and improbably humorous look at the world of eldercare. With a compassionate eye but mordant wit, Rosofsky, a psychologist charged with gauging the mental health of his elders, reveals a culture based not in the empathy of caretaking, but rather in the coolly detached bureaucracy of Medicare and Medicaid.A portrayal of what is increasingly becoming the last slice of life for many, Nasty, Brutish, and Long is also a baby boomers poignant meditation on mortality, a reflection on his caregiving for his parents final days, and an examination of the choices