[macgolfnut]

Gracie, that was a great analogy. I read the book and went from mildly chuckling to some interest to anger to feeling that the author is an idiot. While it is pretty easy reading, he cannot stick to one side of the argument. IMHO there is nothing wrong with wanting to be around people of a similar age and interests. The world has changed from the 1950's. There is no reason we should feel guilty because we don't want to live with our children and be permanent baby-sitters for them. TV is paradise and we have discovered a place where we can not only age gracefully, but have a great time doing it. He needs to find another cause. I wonder if his former neighbors still talk to him. I wouldn't.

[ebliss1]

I actually found Leisureville to be very informative. Yes, you need to filter out the author's biases and his publisher's obvious attempts to emphasize conflict and controversy and also to "sex it up", but once you get through that, a lot of good info comes through.

Personally, my grandmother moved to a 55+ community in Leesburg when I was 8 and my grandfather died and never looked back. She had a great time down there and made some great friends, even met a second husband. Reading Leisureville opened my eyes a great deal to what she saw in such a place and why it appealed to her.

After reading it, I decided to explore TV a little more, having never heard about it prior to the book. Since I started looking, I've become convinced that I want to move there as soon as I can retire and am working on convincing the wife that its a good idea. The timing will be good since my daughter will be out of college when we can retire with full benefits and we have a couple years to plan.

So all in all, for me at least, reading it has given me some direction for what I want to do with my retirement that seems a lot more fulfilling than sitting around up here in Pennsylvania watching Wheel of Fortune and complaining that my grandkids don't call more.

[faithfulfrank]

I just read the book a few weeks ago. The first part I loved because we could so relate to it. We visited Florida 1.5 years ago, never thought we would like it or consider it our future home. I month later we were 55+ community central Florida homeowners. (We bought in The Plantation...never heard of the Villages until later).

I found myself liking parts of the book, and being angry at other parts of the book. I think he was biased most of the time, and I resented his viewpoint that we were "wronging society" by buying a home in a 55+ gated golf community. Anyway, it held my interest, gave me some things to think about, and taught me that we must be pro active to insure a healthy future for our community.

Frank D.

[carole131]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

I read it and I wasn't nearly as annoyed as most folks are. It was a fairly decent summary of life in TV with a little sex and criticism to wave a few flags and sell a few books.

I'm reading it for the second time. I agree with your summation, but, "annoyed"? Not at all. There's quite a bit of tongue-in-cheek in the book. I'm amused at Andrew Blechman's seeming disappointment about the community being restricted to adults. For some, that's the whole idea!