"You can make this stuff up, but in our marriage, you don't have to."

What do you do when your 96-year-old mother-in-law gets stuck on the sofa and a neighbor has to call the rescue squad? Or when your own 91-year-old mother decides to give up underpants?

If you are Charlotte Johnson Jones, first you go to the kitchen and eat every cookie, buttery snack, and piece of chocolate you can get your hands on. Then you sit down and write.

"Eldercare Is Making Me Fat" is a set of tales about the challenges Jones and her husband, Herman, have faced as they try to manage the health and affairs of the women whom they affectionately (and with great exasperation) call "The Mothers."

Slim, irreverent, and truthful but touching-just as its author would like to be-"Eldercare" is the perfect book for everyone with an addled, stubborn parent or grandparent who is driving them to the doughnuts.

As a journalist in the 1980s and 1990s under the byline C. J. Houtchens, Charlotte Johnson Jones wrote for many national publications, including "The Washington Post, Travel and Leisure, Harper's Bazaar, " and "USA Weekend, " and profiled such diverse personalities as Maya Angelou, Sissy Spacek, two Miss America winners, African princess Elizabeth of Toro, musicians, artists, political figures, and the panda keeper at the National Zoo. "Eldercare Is Making Me Fat, " is her first book.

Translated from her own words, this story of a Navajo woman who lived for more than 102 years is a vivid account of traditional lifeways in a harsh and challenging environment. Tall Woman was raised in a family of foragers and herders. Forbidden to go to school, she learned traditional skills and knowledge from her elders, growing up to be a well-known weaver and an expert on the uses of traditional plants as food and medicine. She was also in demand as a midwife. Despite her reputation and that of her husband, Frank Mitchell, a well-known political leader, judge, and Blessingway singer, Tall Woman lived the unassuming life of a traditional Navajo woman, focusing on the hogan, her twelve children, the sheep and goats, and the farm. Edited and annotated by a distinguished anthropologist who has worked with the Mitchell family since 1963, this book was written to fulfil Tall Woman's desire to share her story not just with her descendants but with others. In addition to her own life history, Tall Woman tells ancestral stories and offers wise advice to future generations. Both Navajo and non-Navajo readers will be fascinated by the courage and ingenuity evoked in her account of the People's survival during a period of immeasurable change.