The Two Bounce Rule: Life in Fig Paradise

by Matt Cutugno

This is a story of people in a place. The place is Fig Paradise, an over-60, gated community in Mapplethorpe Valley, California. It lies within the town of Hot Stone and consists of one hundred homes and half that number of condominiums. There are community pools, tennis, pickleball, and bocce courts, a dog run, and a fitness center. There is a restaurant exclusive to the community and its guests, and a pro-shop for the golf crowd.

Fig Paradise got its name from fruit orchards previously on the property. It is said the land was once owned by Amelia Earhart years before her fateful flight. Located in the Sonoran Desert, the community enjoys eight months a year of fine weather. Then summer brings temperatures well over one hundred degrees. Snowbirds depart for cooler clime. Year-rounders, the desert dwellers, remain.

The folks who reside in Fig Paradise are a mixed bunch of appearance, temperament, belief, and persuasion. In short, they are like people everywhere, except they are old.

256 pages, Paperback

Published December 30, 2022

Reviews

[Paulette Ryder · Rating 2 out of 5]

Being very into pickleball, living in a community such as the blurb for this book describes, and reading enough about the book that I had a strong feeling I'd like it, I figured I would shell out the money, read it, then leave it on the table at our pickleball center for others to read. Eventually a whole bunch of us would have read it and enjoyed it, and some of us could talk about it. I was excited that someone had thought to write about my world, and really psyched to begin reading.

It contains a couple of scenes having to do with pickleball. These were not interesting.

It refers to life in a retirement-style community. Even given that it was supposed to be more a humorous than a realistic take on such a life, there was not much to relate to. The online chats where neighbors spread and discuss gossip were a mildly humorous exaggeration of the type of thing that does happen.

There is no real story. There are small vignettes which serve somewhat as character studies of a few of the literal "characters" living in the community and the book. These are not super boring and not especially interesting and, for me, no desire was created to get to know any of these characters better. None of them was likeable or sympathetic enough to generate a sense of caring in me. If you don't care about the characters, and there's no real story, there isn't much of a book.

Toward the end of the book some things happen that feel good and do get the reader to care about some of the characters. One happening especially was well-thought-out by the author, raised my rating from one to two stars, and left me feeling that my time spent reading the book was not wasted. To be fair to the author, I and I believe most people would be hard-pressed to make the topics of pickleball and geriatrics into a memorable book, and maybe I simply don't have the type of sense of humor required to fully appreciate the author's many attempts at humorous people and dialogue and situations. It's possible that other people will appreciate the book more than I did. However, my opinion of it was low enough - and I found little enough to potentially discuss - that I decided NOT to put it out for the rest of my retired pickleball friends to read.

[christine cutugno]

The Two-Bounce Rule: Life in Fig Paradise by Matt Cutugno will be of interest to anyone who plays pickle ball and to everyone with a sense of humor. While the characters are all “of a certain age,” they are easily recognizable “types” and well fleshed out very quickly soon after their introduction. The situations they inhabit are interesting and well described. The author is appreciative and non-judgmental of the characters’ motivation and his style makes for very interesting and pleasurable reading.
I laughed out loud during many of the segments and, by the end of the book, felt more knowledgeable about both pickle ball and interesting character types. Well done!

[Writemoves · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointing. A lot of characters, senior citizens living in a retirement community that reminded me of the Villages but no compelling stories. There was a nice tale for a 98 year old man who died in bed thinking that the woman he was with was his wife who died decades earlier. There was a description of tournament pickleball play that I found boring and I wasn’t sure why it was in the book. Some mildly humorous senior citizen stories but not enough to justify my $10 investment in the book.

I had read an ad on Facebook about the book and thought it might be entertaining. It urned out to be my “unforced error."

[Pam Yonge · Rating 4 out of 5]

worth a read for the smoke it brings

Kinda goofy, not highly intellectual by any means but a quick witted funny read. Especially if you’re “older” and live or have experienced Sun City or The Villages

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars for content
2 stars for mechanics
I liked the premise, but I think this book needed a lot more work before publication.

[Dee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inane. Funny, sometimes laugh out loud funny. Definitely in need of an editor.