Book Review: "Early Bird" by Rodney Rothman

Rodney is worn out. He is tired of working 70+ hour weeks writing jokes for David Letterman and other TV comedies. He is only 28, but he feels like he has wasted much of his life. His job is not enjoyable, and he is tired of sitting on his butt, quite literally, all day. So, one day he decides to quit, to make for early retirement. It is not like he has enough money to truly retire, but he wants to try it out, to see what it will be like in 40 years when he really retires.

He decides that the best way to do this is to go live in Florida (specifically Boca Raton--He is a Jew and that is where most of them go), where all the other retirees in America (and even Canada) flock. Yes, that is right, he decides to go live amongst people two times, even three times, his age. What follows is one of the funniest and entertaining books I have read in awhile. I know, as a graduate student, that really is not saying much considering I do not have that much time to do "personal" reading. (That's the funny thing about Grad School, there are so many different types of reading: "class" reading, "personal" reading, "speed" reading, "spiritual" reading--the list goes on).

"Early Bird" is a glistening and hilarious tale of one man's journey into a lesser known world--the world of elderly people and their crazy, enigmatic lives. You learn lots of things in this book. For instance, you learn that elderly people get up so early each day (usually before the sun comes up) because they have lower levels of melatonin. That is a depressing thought considering we live most of our lives wanting to sleep in, and then when we are finally able to do it, we can't! You also learn that elderly people are some of the most cliquish people in the world. They have clubs for everything--"Shuffleboard," "Red Hats," "Pool Groups," etc. They also have different categories for friends, "pool" friends, "Denny's" friends, "Bus" friends, and so on.

Here is a fact you probably do not know: the East Coast of Florida thrives in New York and Canada retirees, and the Gulf Coast thrives in people from the Mid-West. The reason: Route 75 comes from the Mid-West, Route 95 from the East. It is as simple, and funny, as that.

I would recommend this to anyone, at any stage of life. If anything it will make you think differently about retirement, and whether you actually want to do it or not. This book is also sociologically useful. It shows a frightening trend in American lives. Rodney Rothman explains that more and more retirement communities are becoming privatized in the sense that people are interacting less and less with others. This is due, presumably, to the fact that Baby Boomers (who are now starting to retire) grew up in suburbia, where private lives are, well, more private. This is an especially tragic occurrence given the fact that longevity is connected to how well people interact with others. Despite all our medical advances, we might lose our surest defense against short lives--each other.

Regardless of how you feel about it, understanding elderly people is something rarely done in this country and I think we would be greatly enriched if we did so. It might change how we live our lives.

Rodney Rothman's book is a great way to start this process. In fact, it might just be the funniest book you have read in awhile. Where else can you get a ninety-three year old woman explaining that while her knees are failing her at least she "can still spread her legs"?

Haha, enjoy.