[Pturner]

Originally Posted by cappyjon431;***730

It was an enjoyable read, but from an academic perspective it was a classic case of an author (not a a social scientist) holding a deep seated belief and then using slipshod research to support his belief and justify his thesis.

Enjoy it for what it was--a quick and entertaining beach/pool read with a smattering of interesting factual information combined with some commercial (remember "sex sells") anecdotal evidence.

Cappy, you nailed it. His premise was that age-segregated communities are bad for society and that people who live in them are selfish, nihilistic and uninvolved in the community. Although many people in TV volunteer for a host of causes, he didn't seek out the easy-to-find givers.

He painted TVers as pot-smoking, sexaholics who sit around and play video games, ignoring the legions who are attracted to TV for the healthful sports, recreation, learning college and clean social clubs it offers, as well as the fact that their grandchildren love to visit.

He focused on the night-life set, as if-- rather than being a minority subset-- they were the typical Villager, as if the majority don't gladly head home when the venues close at 9 p.m., tired from a vibrant day of healthy and social activity.

Although I haven't met any, I don't doubt that there are pot-smoking, sexaholic, video-game zombies living in our midst. It's no wonder that he was able to find them. That was his premise, and proving it was his mission.

Had he set out to discover the typical Villager, he wouldn't recognize the place he described.

[Veronica]

I thought it was hysterical; especially Mr. Midnight. The best thing about it was to learn that so many residents like living there.

[keithwand]

Read the book as well.
Mr Midnight? Maybe Mr. Ten O'Clock.
Familiar with the Morses through Brownwood Acres in MI. My worry re the book is when the Morses pull out and sell all of the amenities to the residents for an inflated price.
Hmmm.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by eweissenbach

Not sure what to make of this, what with the conversation about Mr. Midnight and all....................

Boy Howdy.

I don't know whether to be impressed or distressed.............

[Trish Crocker]

Geez...I was looking forward to moving there until I heard about how wild the residents are...now I am really looking forward to it!!!
Actually, I think the first time I realized how old I am was when I looked around the table at some of my close friends and realized that they all looked like the way I remembered my aunts and uncles looking...

[eweissenbach]

Originally Posted by Trish Crocker

Geez...I was looking forward to moving there until I heard about how wild the residents are...now I am really looking forward to it!!!
Actually, I think the first time I realized how old I am was when I looked around the table at some of my close friends and realized that they all looked like the way I remembered my aunts and uncles looking...

Ha! My first realization was when I was at a big party a few years ago and the band was playing 50s and 60s rock. I looked at my wife and said "why are all these old people dancing to our music, I thought they hated it?"