The Late Show: A Semiwild but Practical Survival Plan for Women over 50

In 1962 a revolutionary book hit the New York Times best-seller list where it stayed for twenty-six weeks. That book was Sex and the Single Girl and its author, Helen Gurley Brown, hasn't stopped communicating - intimately - with millions of women ever since through her other best-selling books and as editor in chief of Cosmopolitan. Following Sex and the Single Girl's phenomenal success, it was only a short time before Ms. Brown, with no previous magazine experience, turned the then-ailing and aging (one hundred years old) Cosmopolitan into the premiere women's magazine in America (number six among all magazines in newsstand sales) and the number-one young women's magazine in the world (twenty-eight international editions), each edited for and in celebration of Ms. Brown's creation, That Cosmopolitan Girl, the woman who loves men and children but doesn't want to live through other people; she wants to achieve on her own. In The Late Show: A Semiwild but Practical Survival Plan for Women over 50, Ms. Brown describes in her distinctive voice what it's like to grow old - NOT gracefully but resourcefully and energetically, what you can expect during the process and what you can do to make it rewarding. The book is divided into twelve informative chapters that range from emotional security, marriage, money, sex, beauty and clothes to food, exercise, health, doctors, work and the importance of each as one grows older. Ms. Brown shares her own knowledge along with extensive research. Various chapters contain nearly noncaloric (but satisfying) recipes; up-to-the-minute news on fiber, alcohol, vitamins and their impact on health; beauty tips from Raquel Welch, Ali MacGraw, Lauren Hutton, JoanRivers, Diane von Furstenberg, Judith Krantz, Gloria Vanderbilt and many other great-looking women not still in their twenties or thirties. (Don't ever tease your hair. Use warm teabags for puffy eyes. Whole-egg mayonnaise will shine up dull hair. Fall in love, as often as you can get your hands on a love' object. Never give in to the idea that aging is the pits!). Ms. Brown talks freely about the joys and sorrows of her own life, shares her medical experiences (CAT scan, shingles, hysterectomy, cosmetic surgery). She acknowledges it would be pleasant to eschew diet and exercise (haven't we earned the right to relax and enjoy life?) but says that decision would be unthinkable for a woman who wants to stay "young" and beautiful. She offers sensible, palatable ways to stay trim and eat sumptuously. A noted surgeon answers questions about cosmetic surgery. Ms. Brown extols the joy of sex at any age, strongly suggests you keep it in your life, tells how to find it again if it's gone and enhance whatever is left. The Late Show is crammed with practical, innovative advice and insights from a life lived to the hilt - sensually, healthfully, successfully and presented in the same clear voice that is Ms. Brown's and Cosmo's signature. The Late Show can help any woman face this time of her life with verve, clout and self-reliance - sans depression - even if there's not a man around. If the best is not "still to come", at least what's here this minute can be made terrific through application of the wisdom of this book.