Xpressions!

In her most recent and fifth book, New York Times Best Selling Author, Jane Fonda shares her blue print for living: Prime Time. In this book, as with several of her others, Ms. Fonda delineates the interrelationships between body, mind and spirit. Her goal in writing the book is to share her evolution in life. Fonda promises readers an 'A to Z' guide to living and covers a range of topics including love, health, fitness, friendship, sex and spirit.

Fonda reveals intimate details of her childhood and three marriages in support of her operating premise that one must "look back in order to clearly see the road ahead." According to the author, she purposely made several painful decisions including the break up from her third and last husband, Ted Turner, in order to better prepare and equip herself for the second and final half of her life.
Fonda's underlying theme is best expressed by the Carl Jung quote she cites in one of the introductory chapters: "The greatest potential for growth and self realization exists in the second half of life". The author uses this quote as the underlying foundation for her discussion 'how to set the stage for the rest of your life.' Sub-topics within this theme include: 'becoming whole, a time for gathering, a time for building, etc'.

Fonda challenges readers' conception of human life by offering an alternative model to what she calls the traditional biological life pattern (depicted as an arc) which begins with childhood, peaks in middle age and declines to infirmity and death.
She offers an alternative model depicted by a rising staircase that reaches into infinity with an ever narrowing flight of stairs. According to Fonda, this alternative concept on aging shows the potential for an individual's upward progression toward 'wisdom, spiritual growth, and learning'. She believes that this progression should be viewed as a natural part of the aging and maturation processes.

Readers who are comfortable and familiar with Ms. Fonda's prior works will not be surprised at the thrust or depth of the material she presents in Prime Time. The material, as intended, is a continuum of the life lessons the author has previously presented in her other works.
The book is well written, includes pictures of Ms. Fonda, her family, her friends and husbands at the various stages of her life, and technical information and resources to support her concepts.
For those readers who may be searching for light reading, this may not be the book for you. If you are interested in learning more about concepts related to physical, emotional and spiritual growth and how they relate to the aging process, you may be intrigued by Fonda's discussions on active aging. As she points out at the conclusion of her book, commensurate with increased life expectancy rates, individuals must approach aging from a different perspective; one that can accommodate as much as an '80' year life span. And in the author's words, deciding whether to confront and prepare for these additional periods of what she calls 'second adult life time, is the challenge of this and subsequent generations.