Book summary

Comedy writer Rodney Rothman was feeling exhausted, overcommitted, and generally fed up, and so he decided to retire early--very early: at age 28, he headed for a Florida retirement community. There he discovered the joys of bingo, canasta, and gambling cruises. He also found an unexpected talent for shuffleboard, and had a humbling experience playing softball with people twice his age. Rothman lasted only six months, but during that time he made a difference to the lives of a few people, and was delighted to find that he regained his own zest for living.

Media reviews

"[H]is descriptions of the loneliness, the cliquishness, the slow-motion desperation of the place ring true and bittersweet. Most surprising is that his tales contain not an ounce of mean-spiritedness--this from someone who once wrote for David Letterman."