katerr's review against another edition
2.0
I love most memoirs I read. This one was a little boring. I was looking forward to the end as I was reading it.
k8iedid's review against another edition
3.0
This has been sitting on my shelf, half-read, for, oh THREE YEARS. It's funny in that AJ Jacobs "I'm going to do something different and write about it" sort of way that doesn't require you to sit down and tear through it, but, say if it were on the shelf at a house I was renting at the beach, or a bed and breakfast, I recommend you give it a try. Rothman is an entertaining writer and has a gift for conveying the complicated, human/interesting side of people, which makes for a nice read, however much time you have for it.
harriet_toad_maradona's review against another edition
1.0
i probably should've have forked over another star for this book because it was, maybe, "ok/" BUT when you have testimonials from Jon Stewart, Greg Behrendt, Nick Hornby, Dave Eggers, AND Sarah Vowell on the back of your book...well then, "ok" kinda seems like a one-star situation.
tessypie's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting experiment from a man who wants to see if early retirement really is the good life. A couple decades early, Rothman decides to move to Boca and live in a retirement community. Funny and at times touching, this memoir was a quick, fun read.
boygirlparty's review against another edition
2.0
the david sedaris comparisons (in the cover flap reviews as well as by the author himself throughout the book) are something i just don't see. this book was funny enough to make me crack some semblence of a smile 2 or 3 times in reading this book, but i never laughed out loud, and more than anything, i felt a little depressed reading it. i don't know why i thought this book would be funny. even after reading this book (especially after?) retiring and aging are not things i look forward to.
additionally, rodney added no new spin on things. obviously, he made many of the people he came in contact with uncomfortable; nearly getting his roommate kicked out of her condo for breaking the rules about keeping pets, taking viagra on a date to see '[b:the lord of the rings|34|The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, Part 1)|J.R.R. Tolkien|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156043001s/34.jpg|3204327]' and describing the results in detail, and tried to make some guy's mom like him more than her own son at thanksgiving dinner. this guy seems like he's starved for attention and moving to the retirement community and writing this book have been two efforts to get himself into a spotlight.
i thought 'undeclared' was a pretty funny series, and i love david letterman, but it's hard to believe such a so-so comedian was a writer for both those programs. i think this could have been a funny book if someone else had done it, as the idea is funny, but it wasn't executed in an engaging way.
additionally, rodney added no new spin on things. obviously, he made many of the people he came in contact with uncomfortable; nearly getting his roommate kicked out of her condo for breaking the rules about keeping pets, taking viagra on a date to see '[b:the lord of the rings|34|The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, Part 1)|J.R.R. Tolkien|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156043001s/34.jpg|3204327]' and describing the results in detail, and tried to make some guy's mom like him more than her own son at thanksgiving dinner. this guy seems like he's starved for attention and moving to the retirement community and writing this book have been two efforts to get himself into a spotlight.
i thought 'undeclared' was a pretty funny series, and i love david letterman, but it's hard to believe such a so-so comedian was a writer for both those programs. i think this could have been a funny book if someone else had done it, as the idea is funny, but it wasn't executed in an engaging way.
nightfalltwen's review against another edition
4.0
This was an amusing book. I loved hearing about the view of retirement from someone who was 28 at the time. Well worth the read.
bellisima's review against another edition
4.0
Very funny, poignant, and definitely makes you think about aging and mortality.
rach's review against another edition
3.0
Funny and facinating at times. Many of us have wondered what it would be like to not only be retired, but to live the life of a prototypical retiree. Rothman decided to take a break from his normal life and get an early glimpse of retired life. For the most part, Rothman's observations are witty and wry. Unfortunately, they are mostly anecdotal - a string of unrelated stories that, while amusing, don't really provide one with a narrative. Clearly learning something from his experiences wasn't Rothman's goal - he says so himself - but I think the book lacks a unifying theme, something we can all take away from it. I would say that the point is that you can find common ground with people of any age, become friends with them and stay friends, and I think Rothman's epilogue testifies to that, despite his assertations that he regularly got sick of spending day after day with old people. In the end, I just wish this had dug a little deeper.
harvio's review against another edition
2.0
- slightly humorous non-fiction account of the former head writer for Late Night With David Letterman - who felt burned out at only age 28 and decided to move into a Boca Raton Florida Retirement Community forty years early.
- mostly cute, occasionally insightful - I think I chuckled twice
- not awful, by any means
- mostly cute, occasionally insightful - I think I chuckled twice
- not awful, by any means