Leisureville
Adventures in a World Without Children
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
This revealing profile "disappears down the rabbit hole [into] the largest gated retirement community in the world" and what it discovers is "fascinating" (The New York Times).
When his next-door neighbors pick up and move from New England to an age-restricted "active adult" development in Florida called The Villages, Andrew D. Blechman is astonished by their stories—and determined to investigate. Sprawling across two zip codes, with a golf course for every day of the month, two downtowns, its own newspaper, radio, and TV station, The Villages is a prefab paradise for retired Baby Boomers, where "not having children around seems to free [them] to act like adolescents" (The New York Times).
In the critically acclaimed Leisureville, Blechman delves into this senior utopia, offering a hilarious firsthand report on everything from ersatz nostalgia to the residents' surprisingly active sex life. Blechman also traces the history of this phenomenon, travelling to Arizona to find out what pioneering developments like Sun City and Youngtown have become after decades of segregation.
Blending incisive social commentary and colorful reportage, "Blechman describes this brave new world with determined good humor and considerable bemusement" (Katherine A. Powers, The Boston Globe).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Blechman ("Pigeons") journeyed to the age-segregated community of the Villages, in central Florida, to explore the reality of America's geritopia phenomenon. A sprawling, relentlessly cheerful development carved out of 33 square miles of pastureland, where 75,000 residents age 55 and older tool around in golf carts, the Villages is one of the most successful master-planned gated communities for retirees in the country, along with the older models of Sun City and Youngtown in Arizona. As part of his research for this engaging book, Blechman ensconced himself with the Villages' residents for a month, attending club meetings and exploring plentiful amenities, frequenting bars teeming with lecherous seniors, and patiently listening to residents' stories of jettisoning their pasts in colder climes for this autocratic fantasyland. Adult active housing is the fastest growing sector of the market, and municipalities are eager to attract these safe, lucrative, childless retirement communities. However, the author confronts the troubling trend toward isolation and escapism, and ponders how different the aging boomers are from their parentsmore diverse, more attached to cities and to their children, while resistant to the rules and regulations of a rigidly planned community. Ultimately, Blechman finds the residents blissful to be spared the friction and uncertainty of real life, yet, as one widow admits, There's a lot of sadness here. "" .
