Book excerpt: Some gave the usual reasons: "He traded me in for a trophy wife younger than our daughter," or "We had nothing in common anymore," or I couldn't take his ...{fill in the blank - gambling, drinking, womanizing]." But I also heard a lot of stories from men and women who I though lived comfortable, contented lives in financially secure marriages and who said that they didn't care what the future might hold, that they divorced because they could not go on living the same old life in the same old rut with the same old boring person. I heard a lot of remarks that all came down to one word: freedom. -- From Calling it Quits This is the first book to reveal the truth about the exploding phenomenon of late-life divorce, which has resulted in a seismic shift in modern relationships. Now, in a finger-on-the-pulse examination of this growing trend, Deirdre Bair, New York Times bestselling author and winner of the National Book Award, explores the many reasons why older, long-married couples suddenly decide to break up. Having conducted nearly four hundred interviews with ex-wives, ex-husbands, and their adult children, Bair reveals some of the surprising motivations that lead to these drastic late-life splits, as well as the unexpected turns life takes for all concerned after the divorce is final.