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LOL I'm reading "Leisureville" right now and wondering what the rest of you think of this book, as well as other such books about retirement communities.
I'm not for or against retirement communities per se although I'll probably choose against them mostly for financial reasons. Also, The Villages is far from an airport. However, I don't think this community deserves the incessant snide remarks made in this book, and in fact it started backfiring--after awhile too many petty (and IMO unfair) smears made me start defending the town and actually becoming interested in it. LOL I don't think it's the reaction the author intended.
It is clear that the author wants his readers to think that retirement communities are creepy. My reaction is it's the author who's creepy. So if you're in the mood for a rant, read on! And let me know if you had the same reaction.
My rant about this book:
The book tells the story of a guy who lives in a small town in New England. He claims he likes the senior citizens "Betsy" and "Dave" who live next door, but the more he talks about them the more it becomes clear that he likes them because they do things for him. Like, when he's out of town Dave mows his lawn. (But the author doesn't talk about how he ever does nice things like this for Dave .) He never has them into his house or goes out with them for fun, but now that they are retired they can do lots more hard work to help out the neighbors (without being paid of course) and "that's as it should be."
The author becomes upset when Betsy and Dave move to FL--but his reason for being upset is so selfish I want to hit him. It's because he wanted them to lead a group fighting city hall for a local park, and if they move away then the author has to take on this chore. Awww, my heart goes out to him. . He admits that the facilities for seniors in his town are depressing and that Betsy and Dave are expected to provide a lot of free work to help out the neighbors but don't get much in return. He also admits that the town will heavily tax Betsy and Dave for schools and kid's programs, and not much of their taxes will be used for services for seniors. Yet he can't fathom why they would want to leave this paradise. This is "as it should be."
So in other words, he's ticked off that they're leaving because they won't be there to service him anymore. Who cares that they worked hard all their life and have earned the right to move to a place where they're happy? Dave is supposed to spend the rest of his life mowing this guys' lawn for free, dammit.
So Betsy and Dave move to the Villages, where they are very happy. It takes them 9 months to sell their house in New England, during which time they visit their old town a few times and repeatedly tell the author how happy they in their new town. Instead of being happy for people he claims are his friends, it makes him resentful, and apparently he decides to write a book and trash this retirement village as his revenge.
After they move, Betsy and Dave make a mistake. They send the author a friendly e-mail, again noting how happy they are, and foolishly invite him to visit. The author takes them up on this offer, and becomes (IMO) the house guest from hell.
He stays for a month, eating their food, using all the amenities, asking for special favors (so he can truly get to know the Village), and repaying them by writing a slam book in which he sneers at his friends in every way he can. He doesn't just insult their town that they obviously love, he mocks their home furnishings and even makes snide little remarks about their clothes and their new friends (who seem much nicer to Betsy and Dave than the author ever was.)
What kind of creepy house guest does that?
He notes that they and their friends are very happy--but puts them down for it. Apparently he thinks they are too stupid to know whether or not they're genuinely happy. The friends regularly invite Betsy and Dave into their home for cocktails and go places with them. The author portrays this as creepy, like it's a scene from The Stepford Wives. He hates how their friends take pride in their lawns; apparently this is creepy because only brainwashed people want to live without little children tearing around through the flowerbeds.
This house guest also does "charming" things like deliberately violating the HOA rules, dropping oil on their spotless street, smearing their friends by name in a book, and rudely telling their friends he thinks that by leaving their hometown they are somehow "harming the fabric of society." (In other words he's ticked off that he doesn't have a free babysitter anymore.) He gets kick out of using foul language (especially the F word) to counter balance the "niceness." Poor Betsy and Dave tolerate this for a month, and as their reward they're publicly mocked in a book. Wow, I've had a lot of house guests over the years, and I can't imagine having a "friend" in my house who would treat me that way.
The book also has some chapters that focus on the history of retirement villages. Those chapters are interesting to read, and at that point the book became worthwhile. But then the author goes back to disparaging poor Betsy and Dave for the sin of being happy in their new town.
I really hope this book ends by Betsy going up to New England and kicking this jerk in a tender spot. Preferably in front of all his friends. With his book.
Since I'm in Florida, I hear about The Villages more and more. Lots have moved there and love it.
We visited once on behalf of looking to see what it was and for my FIL. If we could get him to move, he would love it. (He loves to dance).
People seemed happy. Since I'm a mortgage broker, I've done a couple of loans for couples in there and they both invited me up to see them whenever and told me how much they enjoy it.
In a city south of me and north of me, there are communities known as Leisureville. These communities were built in the 1950's - 1960's and are single family home (detached), well maintained and quiet. My mom had a few friends who moved there and liked it.
I wouldn't categorize people b/c we are all different.
Well, to be fair to the author of "Leisureville" I've had a chance to read a little bit more of it today, and it gets better. The snideness is still there but no longer omnipresent, and he's stopped insulting people for what are really just matters of personal taste, and that makes it much more pleasant to read.
I'm halfway through the book now. The author has started spending a lot of time hanging out at a bar, where 3 local pick up artists are telling him tales of their conquests. The funny thing is he seems to believe everything he hears in this bar, when earlier he refused to believe anything he heard that from the "nice" people in Dave and Betsy's neighborhood. I mean, we're talking people in a bar bragging about sexual conquests. That's the last place I'd expect people to be telling the truth. But, the good news is he seems to find these people more amusing than the people he met at first, which also makes the book much easier to read. I really was getting sick of reading all the snippy little insults about Dave and Betsy. Thank god he seems to have forgotten all about them now that he's met a resident transsexual and a couple of colorful barflies.
I wouldn't categorize people b/c we are all different.
I couldn't agree more! That's one reason books like this can be hard to read--they quickly become generalizations that don't really describe the people there that well at all. Yet, they're interesting because they do describe bits and pieces of a community (even though I think most of the caustic insults are unwarranted).
Caladium, I agree with Bette. You wrote that very well. Your points were well-taken. I'm definitely going to read the book. And Betsy and Dave do sound like great neighbors/people.
I'm probably never going to move to a community like that, although I live in a small condo community of 76 homes and where almost everyone is over 55. Don't think I'd like those megacommunities, although I can see where they serve their purpose for some people, especially when driving is limited. And most are out of the way. There's too much that I would miss by moving away from metro Atlanta. But I do like reading these types of books. Love learning about other people's lifestyles.
A similar but more heartwarming book about an apartment building for the elderly is A Place Called Canterbury:
And Early Bird was a fun read, about a 25 yo guy who decides to get a jump start on his golden years four decades early and moves to Florida, complete with an elderly roommate:
LOL I'm reading "Leisureville" right now and wondering what the rest of you think of this book, as well as other such books about retirement communities.
I'm not for or against retirement communities per se although I'll probably choose against them mostly for financial reasons. Also, The Villages is far from an airport. However, I don't think this community deserves the incessant snide remarks made in this book, and in fact it started backfiring--after awhile too many petty (and IMO unfair) smears made me start defending the town and actually becoming interested in it. LOL I don't think it's the reaction the author intended.
It is clear that the author wants his readers to think that retirement communities are creepy. My reaction is it's the author who's creepy. So if you're in the mood for a rant, read on! And let me know if you had the same reaction.
My rant about this book:
The book tells the story of a guy who lives in a small town in New England. He claims he likes the senior citizens "Betsy" and "Dave" who live next door, but the more he talks about them the more it becomes clear that he likes them because they do things for him. Like, when he's out of town Dave mows his lawn. (But the author doesn't talk about how he ever does nice things like this for Dave .) He never has them into his house or goes out with them for fun, but now that they are retired they can do lots more hard work to help out the neighbors (without being paid of course) and "that's as it should be."
The author becomes upset when Betsy and Dave move to FL--but his reason for being upset is so selfish I want to hit him. It's because he wanted them to lead a group fighting city hall for a local park, and if they move away then the author has to take on this chore. Awww, my heart goes out to him. . He admits that the facilities for seniors in his town are depressing and that Betsy and Dave are expected to provide a lot of free work to help out the neighbors but don't get much in return. He also admits that the town will heavily tax Betsy and Dave for schools and kid's programs, and not much of their taxes will be used for services for seniors. Yet he can't fathom why they would want to leave this paradise. This is "as it should be."
So in other words, he's ticked off that they're leaving because they won't be there to service him anymore. Who cares that they worked hard all their life and have earned the right to move to a place where they're happy? Dave is supposed to spend the rest of his life mowing this guys' lawn for free, dammit.
So Betsy and Dave move to the Villages, where they are very happy. It takes them 9 months to sell their house in New England, during which time they visit their old town a few times and repeatedly tell the author how happy they in their new town. Instead of being happy for people he claims are his friends, it makes him resentful, and apparently he decides to write a book and trash this retirement village as his revenge.
After they move, Betsy and Dave make a mistake. They send the author a friendly e-mail, again noting how happy they are, and foolishly invite him to visit. The author takes them up on this offer, and becomes (IMO) the house guest from hell.
He stays for a month, eating their food, using all the amenities, asking for special favors (so he can truly get to know the Village), and repaying them by writing a slam book in which he sneers at his friends in every way he can. He doesn't just insult their town that they obviously love, he mocks their home furnishings and even makes snide little remarks about their clothes and their new friends (who seem much nicer to Betsy and Dave than the author ever was.)
What kind of creepy house guest does that?
He notes that they and their friends are very happy--but puts them down for it. Apparently he thinks they are too stupid to know whether or not they're genuinely happy. The friends regularly invite Betsy and Dave into their home for cocktails and go places with them. The author portrays this as creepy, like it's a scene from The Stepford Wives. He hates how their friends take pride in their lawns; apparently this is creepy because only brainwashed people want to live without little children tearing around through the flowerbeds.
This house guest also does "charming" things like deliberately violating the HOA rules, dropping oil on their spotless street, smearing their friends by name in a book, and rudely telling their friends he thinks that by leaving their hometown they are somehow "harming the fabric of society." (In other words he's ticked off that he doesn't have a free babysitter anymore.) He gets kick out of using foul language (especially the F word) to counter balance the "niceness." Poor Betsy and Dave tolerate this for a month, and as their reward they're publicly mocked in a book. Wow, I've had a lot of house guests over the years, and I can't imagine having a "friend" in my house who would treat me that way.
The book also has some chapters that focus on the history of retirement villages. Those chapters are interesting to read, and at that point the book became worthwhile. But then the author goes back to disparaging poor Betsy and Dave for the sin of being happy in their new town.
I really hope this book ends by Betsy going up to New England and kicking this jerk in a tender spot. Preferably in front of all his friends. With his book.
I read this book twice a couple of years ago, when we were considering 55+ communities. I totally disagree with all your comments. I felt that the author truly liked and admired his neighbors, Betsy & Dave, and was very disappointed that they were moving. He missed THEM, not just Dave mowing grass. His comments about people leaving communities that actually needed their involvement were not "snide," but sort of a sadness that people who were active in the community were leaving. He is making a general comment that even though people have aged, they still have much to offer their communities. But he understood that his community couldn't offer the services of the 55+. I didn't think he was resentful of the couple. I think he was happy for them but missed their presence. In fact, in the end he is enjoying his other neighbors in his New England neighborhood, and they are a friendly bunch.
He didn't make fun of his former neighbors when he visited them in The Villages. He did comment that he was afraid to walk on the white wall-to-wall carpet that Betsy was so concerned about. Remember that he is a young guy, a family man. True, he didn't like the rule that he couldn't park his car out front all night. This is a rule in many communities. I think this points out that if this rule would bother the reader, they should think twice before buying. Some of the book is rather tongue in cheek. His comments about "Captain Midnight" (I think the name was) were very entertaining and I can just see some bachelor older guy enjoying all the women around. (I think the odds were 11:1--women to men.) Betsy and Dave invited Andrew to visit because they wanted him to see how wonderful their community was. They liked him. He does say some good things about The Villages, but also points out the "Stepford Wives" aura of the place. The Morse family (owners) own the newspaper (not the Orlando Sentinel) which was being sold and The Villages Morse-owned radio station blaring in the town. I've visited The Villages. It's very clean a la Disney World. We were there one day in the hot summer and it was rather dead--hardly saw a person, except when I went into a chain restaurant on the main highway edge of the community. At 4:00 p.m. the place was full of very old people with walkers, etc. eating the early bird special. Apparently, in the summer, the snow birds go north and the place is virtually empty. In the winter, it is packed, and a friend who lives there says there is such a long line to get into restaurants and classes that she no longer tries.
Andrew Blechman lays bare the undercurrent of politics of the ownership and how they control everything. He talks about the circle of land in the center of The Villages map that is perfectly white (I've seen this map). This is land the Morse family owns, and it is considerable. There is a lot to this book that anyone interested in 55+ communities should consider. And it's good to read about how picky some of the HOA's can be. If you buy in The Villages or any other 55+ community, can you tolerate the rules? Are you interested in living in a community that leans far right, as The Villages does?
As I remember, at the end he is still good friends with Dave and Betsy. I didn't get the feeling he was making fun of them at all. He was commenting on how they acclimated to the situation (preppy clothes, etc.), as many people (but not all) would do. They obviously were financially well off. Many who live there are not and live in tiny houses and don't drive fancy cars, especially in the oldest neighborhood. You should read the entire book before making a judgment. It's a worthwhile read.
Last edited by staywarm2; 01-18-2012 at 07:54 PM..
Good reviews to read of different perspectives. I'll need to read this, and the other books mentioned as we are just starting to look at this possibility in 2-5 years. Spent this past weekend exploring the Tampa, Fl area and visited a couple of communities, Valencia Lakes and Southshore Falls (Del Webb), then stopped in Lakeland on the way back to Orlando and saw Cypress Lakes, manufactured home 55+ community. It gave us pause to start thinking what we really want, a main home there or a "snow bird" place for the winter months. My one doubt about The Villages, even though I haven't visited yet, is how far it is from major airports, and the coast. We're just discovering how overwhelming the 55+ plus number of communities are in Florida.
I read the book when it first came out in hardback. My opinion is all the author cared about was partying and so he found that niche of the retirement community who only liked to drink and have sex. While I have no desire to live in Florida (too hot) or in a retirement community, I do think The Villages has more to offer than the bar segment of the community's population with whom the author hung around. I am interested in their classes, for example. I also think maybe he smoked a little too much weed to think the place was sinister. The parts of the book on the other retirement communities were interesting but he didn't spend enough time on them.
I recently picked up Leisureville at the library and am at the point where he is at the Villages and has gone to the western bar. Dave & Betsy do make this place sound like heaven and yes, the author is a bit snide - could be his style of writing because he seems to like these two.
I would like to visit this place just to chekc it out.
Good reviews to read of different perspectives. I'll need to read this, and the other books mentioned as we are just starting to look at this possibility in 2-5 years. Spent this past weekend exploring the Tampa, Fl area and visited a couple of communities, Valencia Lakes and Southshore Falls (Del Webb), then stopped in Lakeland on the way back to Orlando and saw Cypress Lakes, manufactured home 55+ community. It gave us pause to start thinking what we really want, a main home there or a "snow bird" place for the winter months. My one doubt about The Villages, even though I haven't visited yet, is how far it is from major airports, and the coast. We're just discovering how overwhelming the 55+ plus number of communities are in Florida.
Right, it is really plopped in the middle of nowhere. My aunt lived there and we visited her a few years ago. I remember driving forever in this rural, ramshackle area of FL, but then suddenly coming upon a lovely area of palm trees, homes, upscale shopping centers and man-made lakes. We had a nice time visiting the town square. I did read the book and found it interesting (the Stepford-Wives aspect of it); however, every person I know who has moved there loves it. So, if the residents love it, the author's expose' doesn't really matter.
The residents claim that everything they need is in The Villages, including good medical care. However, a friend who lives there had to go to Gainesville for cancer treatment -- 65 miles away. I think in our retirement years, it's more important than ever to be close to good hospitals and medical facilities. And yes, it's over an hour to the coast and beaches -- which, let's face it, is one of the appeals of Florida living, at least for me.
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And let me know if you had the same reaction. 
.) He never has them into his house or goes out with them for fun, but now that they are retired they can do lots more hard work to help out the neighbors (without being paid of course) and "that's as it should be."
You wrote that very well!
Leisureville Book
