Publication Date: October 6, 2026
As Madeleine L’ Engle once observed, ” The great thing about getting older is that you don’t lose all the other ages you’ ve been.” In 20 Over 60, editors Beth Weinhouse and David Galef showcase twenty brilliant short stories by authors over sixty— including luminaries such as Paul Theroux, Joyce Carol Oates, and Jane Gardam— offering a wide-ranging portrait of life in later years: vibrant, unexpected, and full of humor, wisdom, and surprise. Readers will encounter a retired couple whose hobby is stealing peppermills from restaurants, a woman juggling both her husband and ex-husband in the same hospital, a futuristic nursing home whose designers become its unhappy residents, a woman of a certain age navigating the perils of online dating, and a grandfather helping his granddaughter scatter her mother’ s ashes. Smart, skillful, and often hilarious, these stories celebrate the full spectrum of experience, proving that life after sixty is as rich and alive as ever.
Life after age 60 proves to be full of variety thanks to an anthology celebrating later life.
Editors Beth Weinhouse and David Galef serve up 20 short stories in 20 Over 60. The same editors delivered a version 20 years ago highlighting stories written by writers over 40.
Rather than a collection of tales about physical aches and pains, cranky women with cats and the comfort of a good chair, the authors in this selection celebrate life.
The authors bring a unique perspective after living for six decades. While some, like Joyce Carol Oates, are prolific writers, others have varied credentials.
The short stories, like the writers, offer something different for each reader. Humor is a universal concept, but these characters also share the full gamut of emotions.
20 Over 60 delivers a collection of smart, sassy stories that highlight a generation old enough to know better but young enough to do it anyway.
