> Skip to content
Play sample
  • Published: 13 April 2021
  • ISBN: 9781761042348
  • Imprint: Hamish Hamilton
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 160
  • RRP: $24.99

Old Seems to be Other People




In Old Seems to be Other People, Lily Brett’s unique take on getting older is simultaneously hilarious, serious and utterly irresistible.

'I didn’t want to derail myself by thinking about my vulva and whether it was hospitable enough…

Most of us would like to live to an old age, but few of us actually want to be old.

In this disarming, intimate and self-deprecating collection of vignettes about aging, Lily Brett gives us snapshots of her life in New York. After avoiding a large dog that turns out to be a fire hydrant, and mistaking a tall, grey-haired woman for her husband, Lily has to concede that her ophthalmologist is right: she does need cataract surgery. She’s transfixed by a speed-dating dinner at a local cafe, and is told they also have speed-dating dinners for seniors. In the crowded Apple store, in Soho, two young Apple assistants decide it will take both of them to help her.

In Old Seems to be Other People, Lily Brett’s unique take on getting older is simultaneously hilarious, serious and utterly irresistible.

  • Published: 13 April 2021
  • ISBN: 9781761042348
  • Imprint: Hamish Hamilton
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 160
  • RRP: $24.99

About the author

Lily Brett

Lily Brett (OAM) is the critically acclaimed, internationally bestselling Australian novelist, essayist and poet. She is one of Australia’s most loved writers. Her writing has received numerous prestigious awards including the Commonwealth Writers Prize for her novel Too Many Men, and the Prix Médicis Étranger for Lola Bensky. She has written seven works of fiction, five collections of essays and ten volumes of poetry. Lily lives in New York City with her husband, Australian artist David Rankin.

Also by Lily Brett

See all
penguin pop image
penguin pop image