Corey M. Abramson is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Arizona.
Abramson takes readers on a journey through geriatric inequality to
show how on the west coast of the U.S. the supposed golden years of
post-employment for many individuals is an illusion, and in reality
retirement is a corrosive quotidian struggle on body and soul.
However, the saddening tone of this ethnographic work serves many
purposes by shedding light on: the effects of social networks;
rationalizations behind decision-making; greater understanding of
general social stratification; and the symbolic as well as
practical challenges of growing old in the U.S.… Avoiding
reductionist frameworks and showing the hugely varying lifestyles
of Californian seniors, The End Game poses a profound question: how
can provision of services for the elderly cater for individual
circumstances and not merely treat the aged as one grey block?
Abramson eloquently and comprehensively expounds this complex
question.
*LSE Review of Books*
Abramson provides a remarkable ethnographic look at four urban
neighborhoods inhabited by older Americans. He uses in-depth
interviews to explore inequality and how it shapes end-of-life
issues in ways never seen before. The author’s approach situates
inequality experienced by older Americans in a real world context
and links culture, social life, biological life, and structural
disparities in ways that allow readers to understand the
intersectionality of diversity imbued in the lives of older
Americans… Abramson opens a window into the reality of old age, the
importance of culture and the impact it has on shared/prior
experiences, and the inequalities that structure them.
*Choice*
American seniors face starkly different challenges depending on
economic circumstances. The End Game provides a deeper
understanding of how inequalities affect the entire passage of our
lives.
*Robert Reich, University of California, Berkeley, and former U.S.
Secretary of Labor*
How inequality plays out in our aging population could not be a
more important question. The aged are supposedly a group that we
have done a good job at protecting with Medicare and Social
Security, yet we still see sharp social gradients. This book, the
first on the topic, helps to answer that question.
*Dalton Conley, New York University*
Abramson brings a qualitative eye to a topic we have mainly known
through statistics—mortality rates, actuarial estimates, and life
expectancies. With a refreshing perspective, The End Game brings us
close to what people experience as they age, making clear not only
that 'aches and pains' are shared across the board but also that
access to resources matters enormously for how people manage those
difficulties. The book dispels stereotypes over and over; his
elderly respondents work to maintain their image, laugh at their
failing memories, and smoke marijuana. The book is a terrific
contribution to our knowledge of how people actually experience
inequality in their later years.
*Mario Luis Small, Harvard University*
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