The title tells the story. Ageing professor David Kepesh fears his impending decline and death but is also fiercely attracted to a young student one-third his age. Before you think, “Well, here’s another whiny confession by an old, white male lusting after a young thing,” know that the fears and desires and human weaknesses of this novel transcend sex, gender and social norms. Kepesh is not terribly likeable (he’s somewhat of a cautionary tale), but we can sympathize anyway. Senescence comes for all of us—if we’re lucky. What matters is how well we walk through the fire. Reviewed on July 22, 2021