Set in Ogdensburg, New York, Leisure Living explores memory, sex, loss, and class through the sharply refracted lens of a mobile home park.
Leisure Living follows Joe Dubay, a thirtyish Wall Street trader who believed he had escaped the orbit of his father’s mobile home park—until his father’s death pulls him back to northern New York to take over the business. There, he confronts a tangle of family secrets, failing infrastructure, a predatory investment group, and a complicated reunion with a woman from his past.
Comparable to There There by Tommy Orange, The Line Becomes a River by Francisco Cantú, and A Good Hand by Michael Smith, Leisure Living examines economic precarity, class divides, and the gritty realities of an often-overlooked industry. At a moment when affordable housing and economic inequality are central concerns, Leisure Living offers a vivid and empathetic perspective.
Author John Kaufmann is an attorney and mobile home park owner who lives near New York City. His writing has appeared in The Washington Square Review, Off Assignment, Epiphany, Tax Notes, The Journal of Taxation of Financial Products, and The Journal of Taxation of Investments. He is a 2025-2026 CUNY Writers Institute Fellow. For more info please visit https://johnlkaufmann.com/.
