This image is the cover for the book O. J. in the Morning, G&T at Night

O. J. in the Morning, G&T at Night

"Acclaimed author and feisty nonagenarian Hotchner's witty ruminations about the art of living well into old age...with brio and a touch of his trademark sass, Hotchner writes about rediscovering love after 75, finding joy in a scrappy African gray parrot he named after his longtime friend, Ernest Hemingway, and going on his very first safari at age 88." - Kirkus Reviews

When youngsters in their seventies and eighties, nervously lurching toward the horizon of ninety, ask me, "What's the secret?" That's what I tell them: "O.J. in the morning, gin and tonic at night."

You don't have to be in your seventies or eighties to enjoy A. E. Hotchner's elixir for aging happily, but after reading this charming collection of essays, you may wish you were. Nonagenarian, novelist, playwright, and biographer, Hotchner gives us heartfelt and laugh-out-loud anecdotes that describe his unique reflections on the aging process. His musings cover everything from the outlandish commercials that target the older generation (Viagra, Cialis, and Flomax) to suggestions on adapting the tennis game for seniors (he suggests lowering the net by two inches and moving all outer lines two feet inward) to the advantages of having a pet (his pet parrot often tells guests to "kiss my ass").

He can equally capture the headier side of aging, which is bittersweetly revealed in his piece about divorce. With his disarming, eloquent voice and dry sense of humor, Hotch illuminates life's wisdoms through his optimistic, witty, and romantic outlook, all the while making you feel, well, not unhappy about growing older.

O.J. in the Morning, G&T at Night is a book of courageous advice, humorous wisdom, and, above all, good strategies for how to stay young at heart.

A. E. Hotchner

A. E. Hotchner (1917–2020) was the author of eighteen books, including the international bestseller Papa Hemingway: A Personal Memoir (1966); King of the Hill (1972), an account of his Great Depression–era childhood in St. Louis, Missouri, which was adapted into a film by Steven Soderbergh; and Hemingway in Love: The Untold Story (2015). In addition to his decades-long writing career, Hotchner was the cofounder, with Paul Newman, of Newman’s Own and the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp. His most recent novel, The Amazing Adventures of Aaron Brown, was published in July 2018 by Nan Talese/Doubleday on the occasion of Hotchner’s 101st birthday. He passed away at his home in Westport, Connecticut, in 2020.

St. Martin’s Press