Early Bird: A Memoir of Premature Retirement [Paperback]

Rodney Rothman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 11, 2006

Everyone says they would like to retire early, but Rodney Rothman actually did it -- forty years early. Burnt out, he decides at the age of twenty-eight to get an early start on his golden years. He travels to Boca Raton, Florida, where he moves in with an elderly piano teacher at Century Village, a retirement community that is home to thousands of senior citizens.

Early Bird is an irreverent, hilarious, and ultimately warmhearted account of Rodney's journey deep into the heart of retirement. Rodney struggles for acceptance from the senior citizens he shares a swimming pool with and battles with cranky octogenarians who want him off their turf. Before long he observes, "I don't think Tuesdays with Morrie would have been quite so uplifting if that guy had to spend more than one day a week with Morrie."

In the spirit of retirement, Rodney fashions a busy schedule of suntanning, shuffleboard, and gambling cruises. As the months pass, his neighbors seem to forget that he is fifty years younger than they are. He finds himself the potential romantic interest of an aging femme fatale. He joins a senior softball club and is disturbed to learn that he is the worst player on the team.

Early Bird is a funny, insightful, and moving look at what happens to us when we retire, viewed from a remarkably premature perspective. Any reader who plans on becoming an old person will enjoy joining Rodney on his strange journey, as he reconsiders his notions of romance, family, friendship, and ultimately, whether he's ever going back to work.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

What happens when an able-bodied 28-year-old decides to "retire" in a Florida senior community? It may seem like the setup for a Carl Hiaasen novel, but it's actually the project Rothman thinks up after losing his television job. Following through with his plan, Rothman comically probes Boca Raton's Century Village. He infiltrates the social hierarchy of the "pool group," eats dinner at the local early-bird specials and joins a shuffleboard club. He captures these experiences in short, humorous chapters, consistently detailing his own physical and mental failings compared to the seniors he meets. The book's laconic and self-deprecating tone brings to mind Rothman's former boss, David Letterman, but unfortunately, Rothman doesn't balance the two traits as well as Letterman. During a Thanksgiving dinner in the community, when Rothman competes with his neighbor Sylvie's son for Sylvie's attention and says, "I'm committing Grand Theft Mother, directly in front of him. I don't feel bad about it. Why should I?" his humor can feel uncomfortably callous. Much of Rothman's angst stems from his idleness, but it's hard to muster sympathy when that situation is self-imposed. This undermines what is otherwise a funny and engaging memoir of a quarter-life crisis. Agent, David McCormick. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"[EARLY BIRD] is a hilarious reminder that everyone was young once...everyone except Rodney."

--Jon Stewart

"Very sweet and very funny... Rothman allows the sadness that must, of course, attach itself to the end of our lives to seep through slowly, surely and entirely without sentiment."

--Nick Hornby, author of Polysyllabic Spree, High Fidelity, About a Boy

"I'm so into Rodney Rothman. Imagine if your coolest friend retired in his late twenties, moved to Florida, and then wrote you about it in the most observant, sweet, yet unsentimental way. Rodney is one of those uniquely funny and human writers that belongs on your bookshelf next to the Eggers, Klostermans and Sedarises. Don't be late to the buffet."

--Greg Behrendt, author of He's Just Not That Into You

"This book, which has a pretty silly premise, quickly and thoroughly becomes something much more: it's actually emotionally involving, and even profound. It's very funny, because Rothman is always very funny, but it's also truly moving, and, at its core, unspeakably sad. That's not to say it isn't fun to read. It is. It is!"

--Dave Eggers

"Old fashioned retirement at age 28? Funny--sure. But Rothman is also riveting, friendly and the good kind of sad."

--Sarah Vowell, author of The Partly Cloudy Patriot

"If you're tired of working but think retirement is only for the injured, the incontinent, or the rapper Jay-Z, Early Bird will be music to your lazy ears.... As he invades a Boca Raton retirement community and battles for acceptance, Rodney has to fend off grumpy old men, cliquey old women, and a gimpy shuffleboard stroke. The encounters result in rapid-fire laughs as he eventually weasels his way into the pool gossip gang and even finds himself fending off aggressive advances by a sixty-something femme fatale. The new friendships result in a host of poignant moments.... In the end, it turns out life with the black-socks-and-shorts crowd can be just as taxing as life in the fast lane--except for nap time, of course."

-- Paul Ulane, Maxim

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 244 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (April 11, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743270584
• ISBN-13: 978-0743270588
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #929,896 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny yet touching, June 12, 2005

By 

Eileen Rieback (Coral Springs, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Early Bird: A Memoir of Premature Retirement (Hardcover)

Since I live in South Florida, the mecca for East Coast senior retirees, and work in an office building directly across the street from a huge Century Village senior citizen complex, I have always wondered what it would be like to live the South Florida retirement lifestyle. Rodney Rothman, who prematurely retired at the ripe old age of 28 after losing his job as a television show writer, moved into a Boca Raton Century Village retirement condo, determined to try out retirement forty years early.

We meet Rothman's roommate, a shy retired piano teacher whose only companions are her condo-prohibited pets. We learn about his new friend Amy, a raunchy 93-year-old former stand-up comedian. We watch him play bad golf with Artie, a former heroin dealer who is uncertain about what to do with the rest of his life. Then add anecdotes about his shuffleboard, club, and pool buddies, and Rothman paints a fascinating picture of what it's like to grow old. He also throws in details about his own personal concerns, such as finding a Nice Jewish Girl, convincing his family and friends that he's not crazy for what he's doing, and deciding how and when he will reenter the work force.

Rothman did his homework, having read up on the physical, mental, and social concerns of the elderly. As he compares the differences and similarities between the lives of the young and old, he provides an interesting interpretive twist from the refreshingly witty point of view of a twenty-something. In many ways, he claims, the elderly are a lot like their teenage counterparts. They form the same cliques and have the same concerns about fitting in. Old men, who left their immature behavior behind when they married, regain it at this stage of their lives and have primarily women on their minds. Old women are still the giggly, gossipy girls they were in high school. Although I expected this book to be exaggeratedly funny a la Laurie Notaro, instead I found a lower-key, yet still hilarious, memoir that demonstrates a surprising amount of compassion for the elderly. I enjoyed this book and highly recommend it as a laugh-out-loud yet moving account of the golden years, South Florida style.

Eileen Rieback

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars funny but so so, May 29, 2005

By 

Harvey Nightingale (Hollywood FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Early Bird: A Memoir of Premature Retirement (Hardcover)

This book should not be taken too seriously. It is laugh out loud funny at times, but mostly it seems pretty depressing. Not so much at the author's portrayal of the seniors, but at his lack of ability to successfully get the elderly to talk about meaningful things. He claims that they do not offer him any great wisdom of life, but whenever he does find himself in moments of seriousness, such as when he finally finds out how his roommate's spouse passed away, he is too uncomfortable to pursue them further. Alas, the lack of depth he finds in seniors is not a reflection of those whom he meets, but of himself. But then again, what would you expect from a comedy writer who must constantly attempt to discover the absurd? It is a shame that Mr. Rothman did not have the courage to set aside his silliness at times; it would have given this work a whole new dimension.

30 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Read, April 30, 2005

By 

Jim M. (Springfield MA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Early Bird: A Memoir of Premature Retirement (Hardcover)

EARLY BIRDS is a great read.

Rothman, an ex-Letterman head writer and writer for the late great TV series UNDECLARED decides that, after his TV show is cancelled, he will move to Florida and try retirment for a while. He moves into a retirement community as a roommate to a piano teacher with two cats and a parrot. Wackiness ensues.

The book follows Rothman's adventures learning to get up early, joining the various clubs in the village, going on gambling cruises, meeting all sorts of interesting characters (from an ex-stand up comic, a "sultry" divorcee, and an ex heroin dealer turned real estate agent), and finally, trying to find people his own age.

It is very entertaining, you won't want to put it down.