Book Review: My Formerly Hot Life

The subtitle for My Formerly Hot Life by Stephanie Dolgoff is Dispatches from just the Other Side of Young. The title caught my eye and the writing struck my funny bone. When the author's on a train and a good looking man asks for the time and that's truly all he wants is the time, Ms. Dolgoff realizes that something has shifted in her life and she's not sure that she likes it. While she's happily married and has children, it dawned on her that somehow you have crossed an invisible line: You are not young, relevant, in the mix woman you used to be. But neither are you old, or even what you think of as middle aged. You are no longer what you were, and not quite sure what you are.  (book jacket blurb)

Indeed, friendships, fashion, beauty, body image, and marriage are topics for her wit and insight. She discusses formerly thin, formerly cool, fomerly carefree, and how so much that seemed important in the twenties is looked upon fondly. However, being comfortable and content and not up on the latest club scene makes sense now. Her chapter on three friends trying to coordinate a "girls night out" is hilarious. The recovery time from "fun" takes so much longer as a formerly.

P. 104 on swimsuits: I tried a few tankinis which are like assisted-living facilities you go to before you need the round-the-clock nursing home type care of the Miraclesuit.

p.155 on having a fit: I operated under the mistaken belief that I had a designated numerical size , which was usually two sizes smaller than my actual body, and it was my full-time job to try to make my body fit into 'my size'. I could have simply bought bigger clothes.

As a Formerly, I no longer labor under this truly cruel misconception.

Jacket blurb: while you may no longer be as close to the media-machine generated idea of fabulous, you can do many, many more things fabulously.

My Formerly Hot Life is a light quick read and relevant for all women - those who were a formerly and those approaching formerly, and yes, the young ladies who can't imagine they'll ever be a formerly. Laughs all around.