The Part of Our Life We Too Often Forget
This article explores the perspective of author Valeria Luiselli, who argues that the 'middle' of life is the most significant and interesting phase. It contrasts this view with the common cultural obsession with midlife reinvention and clean breaks from the past.
Why it matters
It offers a philosophical counter-narrative to the societal pressure of constant self-reinvention, promoting acceptance of life's ongoing, messy processes.
Forget starting over. In Valeria Luiselli’s new novel, it’s the messy middle of life that counts.
Illustration by María Medem July 28, 2026, 7 AM ET Share Save Reinvention can often seem like an inevitable part of getting older. The midlife crisis is practically baked into the American life cycle, at least in popular culture—a moment that can yield a new career, a new marriage, or, at the very least, a flashy new car. The 1960s radical Jerry Rubin wrote in his memoir Growing (Up) at 37 that he needed a completely new belief system to bring him back from a crisis so deep that, as he put it, “I felt dead at 34.” For him, as for many, the idea of a clean break with the past felt not only appealing but necessary.
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