[quidam65]

I purchased the book on Amazon as part of my research into The Villages.

Blechman has this fixation with people smoking (at least three references, including his own use of pot on one visit; what does that add to anything) and he was clearly trying to find unhappy residents as a portrayal of how bad The Villages is.

Blechman also mentions how senior communities were exempt from the laws that eliminated the "adult only" apartment complexes, and how the original intent of the law was to exempt only long-term care facilities, but the "senior lobby" managed to carve an exemption for ALL senior communities (the "80 percent rule"), and later when it was discovered that there was a "loophole" that places like Sun City and The Villages were able to claim their amenities under the provisions of the law, another law was passed that eliminated the requirement for certain amenities.

Blechman's dislike of the law is very clear throughout his book. It violates his view that somehow we are all obligated to live among and associate with other people, whether we want to or not, for the good of the "community" (in order words, collectivism over individualism).

Blechman does bring out some history about the senior community phenomenon and about the Schwartz/Morse family started the development (I always wondered how father and son had different surnames), and there are legit concerns about how one company can essentially operate its own government.

If you do buy it find a cheap paperback copy online somewhere. Note the paperback copy is an updated edition of the hardback copy (I accidentally bought both versions, not knowing they were the same book).