"For three years Ruth E. Ray visited and participated in eight writing groups at six senior centers in inner-city and suburban Detroit, looking for ways in which the elderly fashion their memories through personal narrative. Her innovative book involves the reader in the construction of life stories as a richly rewarding and highly social process that often reveals the types of relationships that dominate the lives of group members, the majority of whom are women.". "Beyond Nostalgia should appeal to academics and practitioners in women's studies, composition studies, gerontology, developmental psychology, sociology, social work, and linguistics, and to anyone who works with older people."--BOOK JACKET.