Customer Reviews
Perfect Gift for Those Whose Social Life Is Visiting Doctors - By: Donald Mitchell, 23 May 2004 
I sometimes think that retirement is when you stop going to work full time so that you can go to doctors full time. Dr. Seuss seems to agree with that observationin this witty, beautifully illustrated book.
The book starts off like most Dr. Seuss books, beckoning you towards a far distant, wonderful land. In this case, the land is Fotta-fa-Zee where there's "no smelly bad traffic," you feel fine at 103, & your teeth & hair are kept strong by chewing nuts from the Tutt-a-Tutt Tree.
Then reality sets in. You've just been reading National Geographic about Fotta-fa-Zee while sittingin the Golden Years Clinic waiting for the physical that no one should ever have. The high point of this whole experience is talking with the fishin the aquarium as you wait, & wait, & wait for the next part of the exam. Naturally, no one will tell you anything about what they have learned from the tests. You have to see more doctors first, & take more tests.
One of my favorite parts is the eye exam near the beginning, where you get both a "eyesight & solvency test." You have to be able to see & pay for the exam to pass.
Pretty soon all of your clothes have been replaced with a gown, & you cannot easily escape even though that seems like the right thing to do. Each test seems worse than the last. The stress test adds stress as well as measuring it. You smell foods, & any that smell good are taken off your diet.
At some point, you make such an impression with your test results that they wheel you aroundin a wheelchair.
Pretty soon you've got so many prescriptions it takes two pages of poetry to cover all of the directions.
Before you can escape you have to fill out more forms so that the bills will be paid by your estate if you don't survive.
Dr. Seuss concludes with "you'rein pretty good shape for the shape you are in." That's the most we can hope for from America's answer to afternoon tea for the Medicare set.
Having been through such check-ups myself & having a father whose retirement consists of keeping doctorsin business at 84 (he calls it 21 for the 4th time), I can definitely appreciate the humor here. Hopefully, you will too.
I just wish we had stayedin Fotta-fa-Zee rather than the Doctor's office.
The satirical concept is great, but the poetry, whimsy, & illustrations make it all even better. It should cheer up anyone who spends a lot of time visiting doctors.
Banish your misconception stalls about aging & medical care with humor!
A Seuss for Me!! (the mature adult) - By: , 30 Mar 1999 This is one of the funniest Seuss books because most of the stuffin it is true, well, slightly exaggerated, ok, it's zany but based on how things are. My favorite page is the one with taking the pills!
So entertaining for our "older" friends - By: , 12 Jan 1999 I read this book while waiting for my husband at a Cardiologist's office. I work for a senior center, & my husband & I AREN'T getting younger. I love the way it recognizes some of the worries of elders & entertains. My copy will go to our senior center's library.
Fun and zany and all adult - By: , 02 Nov 1998 A delightful & delightfully written book. But take care - this is not a book to read to your children; it is completely an ADULT book.
Brilliant work from one of the world's best satirists - By: , 11 Jun 1997 Call me crazy, but I love the Seuss-meister. His
work is so often overlookedin the world of satire, & too often plunked into the children's book catagories.
This book was not written for kids! How quaint; how rare! He's written for gram & even gramp-air! "Only Old Once" addresses adult fears of doctorsin the unique Seuss way, without being distinctly childish. He mocks the testing methods & treatments that many of us don't even want to think about.
Another Seuss gemin a similar vein, is "Daisey-Head Mayzie", who also endures the poking & prodding of modern medicine, all because she was different.
If you haven't read Seuss since your youngest child entered middle school, shame on you; consider yourself properly rebuked, & go get a few Catin the Hat logoed volumes. Then curl up with a plate of green eggs & ham & let yourself go!
