Customer Reviews

Early Bird: A Memoir of Premature Retirement

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

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

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.

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.

This is light stuff to the point of being cotton candy, full of air and artificial color. What could have been an opportunity to explore the hidden life of the elderly in their own segregated communities turns into the story of an ineffectual nerd "author," in the self-centered mode of George Kastanza of Seinfeld fame, forever thinking about how he's perceived by the "old men" and "old ladies," and about his pathetic inability to get laid. Even a self-indulgent person like Rothman, however, after being surrounded by what mortality is all about, becomes somewhat empathic and breaks out of his snarky cocoon to discover the pains and memories of his "old lady" roommate. I can't say he learns much about the elderly beyond the couple of books he reads about growing old. He could have just stayed home in Hollywood and read the books. Did he not learn much about the people he talked to because they are cliquish or because he's too self-centered to find the right questions to ask? Seems like in the long run he came to Florida looking for fatuous jokes and hilarious stories to bring back to his friends. He cracks a few jokes and tells some stories here, which aren't that funny. Old people can be mean, they can be crazy, they can be vulgar, and they can have physical problems. Hello Mr. Rothman: So can "young" people. So can you. To be fair, Rothman does try to help some people he meets, but isn't too successful at it. Old people don't cotton to change, and he gives up his efforts fairly easily. In the end, I thought this book was about as funny as a bad David Letterman routine, for which Rothman was an ex-writer. From his performance here, I can see why he's an "ex."

I've always had an affinity for "older" people, and wondered what it would be like to live with them on a regular basis - see what happens when they are in their own habitat, as it were. So this book stuck out at me.

I loved the way the author noticed, and picked up on even the smallest things. I suppose that's the job of a writer, but he so clearly described and articulated even the simplest everyday things about retirement, like the art of playing sports with arthritis, or the romantic lives of his retired folks, and he portrayed such a clear picture.

In our culture youth is revered above all else - and I was struck even by how the older folks thought of themselves as "young old" or "old old", and how they could be mean and catty about things like looks and body type - it seems so ingrained in people, I suppose. But this book showed how retirees are the same people they were forty years ago - which gives me hope for my own retirement in 40 or so years. Touching, funny, and, I expect, true.

Surprisingly unfunny, this awkwardly written book takes a concept that's rich on paper but quickly--very quickly--goes nowhere in Rothman's unskilled hands. That's due in large part to his flat, disinterested prose, and, in even larger part, to his curious lack of sympathy or empathy for his neighbors who he seems to see as punchlines rather than people. Like Rothman, one never forgets at any point that he's conducting an experiment for the sole purpose of turning it into a book; he never rises above that objective or attempts to understand his subjects, or himself, any better. What could have been a funny, insightful, instructive read instead stands as a flat and unfunny series of observations.

On the other hand, it's still a great idea for a book--or a movie--just not one written by Rodney Rothman.

I didn't really like this book. It didn't live up to my expectations. It has a quote from Jon Stewart on the cover, and seemed like a good concept, but wasn't that funny. The book doesn't have a good throughline. I imagine Rothman had all this material and it sort of resolved itself into various topics. However he ends one chapter abruptly and begins the next with no bridge between. He has a very dry style, but it comes off as lack of interest rather than wit. There's no sense that he actually cares about trying to get in with the old ladies by the pool, or how terrible his roommates cats are. It seems like he felt like he should write this book, so he did. But he didn't actually learn anything, I don't think. I wouldn't recommend it.

OK, I really meant to read 2008's Leisureville, but this was the only book in the library on retirement communities. I'm over 50, so I usually only read a book if it's free.

I wanted to scope out my options for the next decade. But even though Early Bird is non-fiction, it suffers from a dearth of information. It's really a bunch of essays about Rodney Rothman and how he is affected by the mostly Jewish mostly New York seniors around him, who treat him like a 28-year-old visiting son or grandson.

Even though well-written, his humor wore quickly. I know a book isn't worth reading when I'm just scanning the pages, trying to find something non-gratuitous to read. I found it 2/3 of the way in, with the chapter "Basherte", where he left campus to date women his own age. It was still gratuitous, but at least that chapter was really funny.

Rodney Rothman, a 28 year-old TV writer residing in Los Angeles decided to give early retirement a try and moved in with an elderly lad at Century Village, a retirement community. There, Rodney learned more about the elderly people, their lifestyles and just retirement in general. Retirement was not what he imagined as the senior citizens were extremely active and participated in various clubs. The clubs that Rodney joined or at least participated were: The Bullshit Club, The Shuffleboard Club, Not for Women Only Club and others. Rodney was basically living the lifestyle of a retired man; waking up early, going for the early bird specials, dancing with elderly lady, gossiping by the swimming pool, and etc.

This is an interesting look at how it would be like to retire in a retirement community as seen through the eyes of a 28 year-old. There are definite stereotypes of retirement communities and some of which are true, as discovered by Rodney. But there are definitely more to these communities that most people realized.

Remember when Kramer retired and went to live at Del Boca Vista (phase III) in Florida with Jerry's parents? Early Bird owes a lot to those episodes of Seinfeld. Like Kramer, author Rodney Rothman dances with all the women at the senior's dance, he causes the collapse of one of the men during a spirited game of softball (Kramer's sport was ping pong), he hangs out by the pool. Like Jerry, he's arrested for public urination and he writes for a television show. But despite the obvious similarities, this isn't really a rip-off of the Seinfeld show. It's edgier and a little uncomfortable at times, and there aren't as many laughs as in a sitcom.

It must have seemed like a good idea after a few pressure-filled seasons as a writer for the David Letterman Show. Retire at age twenty-eight and go live in Florida in a retirement community. His friends thought it would be a laugh, but they never expected Rothman to stay for almost a year and they start to wonder if he's lost his marbles.

There are all kinds of possible psychological explanations for Rothman's decision to live with people old enough to be his grandparents. Maybe he feels at a disadvantage with people his own age and wants to have the upper hand for a change. Maybe he feels more comfortable around old people. Maybe he HAS lost his marbles. But if you just accept the story at face value, that Rothman wants to take a break from the rat race and play shuffleboard for a while, then the book works just fine. If you look any deeper, it's just too weird.

Even so, it's impossible not to imagine that Rothman was planning a sitcom based on his retirement adventures. The quirky characters, the wacky adventures, the bite-sized episodes, it all says sitcom. But since it's a book, Rothman was able to stretch a little more as a writer. Amy, the former comedian, comes across as a real person rather than a cartoon. Rothman's relationship with his difficult roommate develops realistically and a bit unexpectedly. The only notes that ring false here are Rothman's relationship with the aging vamp and his relationship with twenty-six year old Christina. Maybe they really happened that way, but as Kramer would say, "It sounds made up."