Wildly entertaining and full of laughs, Leisureville is also an important book on a major, under-reported trend.

Leisureville is a first-hand look at the growing phenomenon of gated retirement communities where children are not permitted. Blechman throws himself into these segregated senior utopias with characteristic abandon - he rides golf carts, plays bingo, and chafes at the make-believe history and detachment from the outside world - and repeatedly samples the nightlife with a ladies' man named Mr Midnight.

Blechman's journey begins when his next-door-neighbours suddenly pick up and move to a retirement community called 'The Villages' - the largest gated retirement community in the world. Connected by miles of golf-cart paths, The Villages is a city of nearly 100,000 (and growing) - and the exclusion of children is one of the foundations of the development. And it is only one of a rapidly growing number of age-segregated communities in the Western world.

This social trend is also on the rise in Australia, with an ageing population of Baby Boomers who are retiring younger and in generally better health than their forebears. A fascinating blend of serious history, social criticism, and hilarious, engaging reportage, Leisureville is also a reminder that life really does begin at 50!