Customer Reviews

BOOMSDAY

5 star:		(51)
4 star:		(40)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

It is rare when I read a work of fiction, and even rarer when the fiction I do read is outside of the mystery/thriller genres. This book, however, was recommended to me by Amazon.com and when I read the synopsis I was intrigued. So with hesitation, I bought the book.

I will not spoil the plot by writing any more about it than has been written in the book overview. I will say that there are still plenty of twists and turns left in the plot. In addition, the book is extremely well written with good dialogue, fairly quick action and a lot less of the fluff usually found in novels. It reads quickly and is hard to put down.

In the beginning, I didn't see the big deal about the humor that was supposed to be in the book. It was "ha, ha" funny, but I didn't belly laugh. Alas, I jumped to conclusions too quickly. The book had me laughing out loud in a number of places. In addition, the entire book is funny in a morbid and distressing sort of way; similar to looking at a Gahan Wilson or Charles Addams cartoon.

The plot is absurd, which makes the book work. Isn't everything about Washington, D.C. absurd to begin with? The author just takes everything to the next level...or does he? Is this fiction or reality on Red Bull? While reading the book, I had the sense there was a message underlying the main story. I will let the reader figure this out for themselves.

This book will appeal to all, but especially to baby boomers and to the generation of kids that they spawned. If you haven't bought it, or do not know the author's work, I highly recommend this book for a good, fun filled laugh. Just leave room to finish it after you start.

Just out this week, Christopher Buckley once again proves his prowess for political satire. The title of Boomsday refers to the impending fiscal crisis coming from the retirement of the Baby Boomers. This will cause strain on the Social Security system and Medicare. The protagonist of the novel, Cassandra Devine, spin doctor by day, blogger by night (with the help of Red Bull) has had a lot of troubles in her young life, but rallies the "Whatever" Generation to cause when Congress once again places the Boomers financial cost onto post Gen-Xers.

Buckley once again provides laughs at the expense of those in power, and presents a masterful understanding of politics. Overall, I enjoyed Boomsday more than Florence of Arabia, but not as much as Thank You For Smoking. I think the reason for this is that the character of Nick Naylor in Smoking is just utterly captivating, and it is his character that drives the story.

Cassandra Devine is perhaps not as fully realized as Naylor, but is still someone the reader can latch onto. As a blogger myself, I assume people might expect me to make some comment as to Cassandra's hobby as a blogger. Well it's pretty spot on, except I personally don't write into the wee hours of the day blogging. It's good in that she's a blogger, but she isn't sitting home in her pajamas all day, and thus perhaps reflects most bloggers who are regular (or semi-regular people). The character also makes reference to not having post times at odd hours of the morning. That I find especially funny, as I have done that on more than one occasion.

Randy Jepperson, the other main character in the book is interesting. A Senator from Massachusetts, and it isn't clear whether or not Buckley wants us to like him or not. Mostly in his dealings with Cassandra does this come out. You end up liking him when she does, and hating him when she does.

In the end, Boomsday is highly entertaining, and much funnier than one would expect a book dealing with the looming fiscal crisis as a plot device to be. Highly recommended.

If you're reading this, you probably already have a glimmer of the plot of Chris Buckley's amusing political satire. The action is set in the political world of the not-so-distant future, many of its cultural trappings recognizable now. As the cost of Baby Boomer Social Security benefits threatens to break the backs and banks of younger workers, a young blogger named Cassandra Devine leads a generational rebellion. She proposes "voluntary transitioning" - that is, tax breaks for elderly Boomers who agree to commit suicide by a given age, thereby relieving rising Social Security costs. Even within this satirical context such a ghastly idea is too far out there to be treated earnestly, so she maintains that she is simply trying to provoke discussion. The concept, however, catches fire, and soon has a Senatorial sponsor and much media attention.

Much in Buckley's satire has the ring of hilarious truth, wittily retold: for example, the pompous trumpets and kettle drums that usher in each broadcast of Greet the Press. Similarly resonant to political junkies is the corrupting role of an elderly advocacy organization, here a Boomer offshoot acronymed "ABBA," but clearly recognizable as the AARP. By the time ABBA has its way with Devine's proposal, it's even more budget-busting than current law. The Boomers are to be showered with more drug benefits and tax breaks, while their "voluntary transition" would be at too advanced an age to save much money. It's a familiar scenario in Washington, where AARP is forever wading into the Medicare and Social Security debates out of ostensible professed concern for fiscal prudence, only to emerge each time with more expensive programs than before.

Similarly pitch-perfect is a conversation that Cass has with a Boomer friend about the Boomers' limitless capacity for navel-gazing. She sarcastically asks him where he was when JFK was shot, prompting yet another self-absorbed recitation of his and his schoolmates' stunned reaction to the event (which Cass, impatiently, cuts off.) The book has consistent fun with the irresistible target of Boomer narcissism. If truth be told, however, the problem with Boomers and Social Security isn't that they're more selfish than other generations, it's just that there are too many of them. Generations earlier than the Boomers took far more out of the program than they put in, even relative to the Boomers.

Other elements of the novel ring less true: The under-30s respond far too readily and unanimously to Cassandra's calls to action, when their real-life counterparts have been a diverse generation that doesn't assert themselves as a unified political force. Under-30s simply aren't manipulated en masse by the simplistic tactics of Cass and her allied Senator.

The novel, though fresh and hilarious in many places, doesn't lack for clichés. Pompous, blowhard, secretly-libidinous Southern Baptist pro-lifer? Check. Dirty-tricks-spinning President? Check. Unlikely romance between cultural opposites? Check. The material is fresher near the beginning of the novel, and drifts further into banality in the later pages.

The novel nevertheless provides interesting food for thought for those interested in Social Security policy. Tongue-in-cheek though Cassandra's proposal is, Buckley's novel understates, if anything, the difficulties that await younger generations. The tortured methodology of Social Security Trust Fund accounting makes it unlikely that the situation will be transparent enough for under-30s to effectively rebel against. In Buckley's novel, by contrast, resistance is spurred when the Senate votes to raise the payroll tax to fund Boomer retirements. In real life, the situation would be far less transparent, and more pernicious: the federal government wouldn't need to overtly raise the payroll tax, but starting in 2017, would have to find other additional revenues to pay off the massive debt claimed by the Social Security Trust Fund. As a result, young workers would likely see their income taxes raised to pay for the massive cost of boomer entitlements, without the government needing to be forthright as to why. Same economics as in Buckley's novel, but less transparency. Young workers may have little idea what is hitting them, and politicians are unlikely to own up.

Particularly daunting is the fact that the overall fiscal situation is worse than even Buckley's exaggerated novel indicates. Cass says in one passage that she's run the numbers, and if only 20% of Boomers "voluntarily transition," Social Security will be solvent. In reality, about 30% of future benefits are unfunded, meaning that not only would 30% of the Boomers need to decline benefits, but so too would every succeeding generation. Buckley's novel, amazingly enough, understates the problem.

Buckley's novel is light, funny, and shines a bright light on a serious issue. It's only a matter of time before the movie comes out. Because of its subject matter, it has the chance to be a more important political satire than its lightness would otherwise justify.

If I were to rate Boomsday based on its insightful analysis of politics or social trends, or for its well developed characters, I'd only give it three stars. But it is such a hilarious, cynical and entertaining romp through the corrupt swampland of Washington D.C. that I had to give it four.

Christopher Buckley's satirical novel is named after the day when the Baby Boom generation starts to retire. I'm not sure if the word is his invention (and I'm too lazy to Google it right now) or not, but the concept is that younger workers are going to have to pay higher taxes to fund the Boomer's social security checks. Cassandra, the closest thing to a protagonist among the novel's motley array of amoral schemers, is a twenty-nine year old, ex-military PR genius who sets off a near revolution by writing some inflammatory blogs on the issue.

Cass works for a borderline sleazy (well, maybe not so borderline really) PR firm run by a Boomer (everyone in this novel is characterized by their generation, a device that lends itself towards oversimplification, of course) named Terry. During her stint in the army, she became involved with Randy Jepperson (who is constantly reminded that he's no Jefferson), an opportunistic Congressman with presidential aspirations. The three scheme to form a platform that will galvanize younger voters in anti-Boomer anger to vote Randy into the White House. Cass comes up with a rather draconian solution -give Boomer's tax credits if they kill themselves at age seventy.

Boomsday, though obviously a satire, tackles a real issue, though in a rather superficial manner. In this way, it's a bit of a disappointment. The big issues raised by Buckley seem to fizzle out as the novel progresses, reduced to mere fodder for the humor. Yet the book is funny enough that this isn't a total loss. Another criticism is that the characters are not really developed beyond the point of being spokespersons for their generations, causes and lobbies. Oddly enough, the most complex character in the novel is probably Gideon Payne, a fundamentalist Christian preacher who naturally opposes Cass's bizarre solution to the social security problem. While Cass,Terry and Randy spend most of the novel plotting strategy, Gideon goes through something of a moral crisis.

Its rapid pace, funny, snappy dialogue and overall absurdism make Boomsdsay an enjoyable read from start to finish. It's fun in a trashy way, similar to the more entertaining nighttime soaps like Dallas and Melrose Place, where almost everyone is devious and selfish but you can't help but like them anyway. If you have strong political or religious convictions, you might be better off not reading Boomsday. It is likely to offend you, and at best you'll find it trivial and irresponsible. If, however, you are already a total cynic about politics and you like to laugh, I'd definitely recommend it.

My copy of this book arrived last week and I spent the weekend simultaneously reading, laughing out loud, and cringing...I am a baby boomer,though thankfully, not 70. Could there be a more timely topic than social security benfits, especially health care benefits, as socialized medicine... oops! Universal Health Care, is becoming a buzzword of this elongated two-year presidential election circus...umm, cycle?

If you've ever wondered how political buzzwords are generated, how politicians seem to pop up out of nowhere, why politicians who seem to have little in common suddenly are jointly sponsoring bills, how special interest groups make strange bedfellows as well, or what happens when great sounding programs actually have to be paid for, it's all here in a very funny, easy to read volume. Buckley is an equal opportunity satirist so no stone is unturned and no player is left unscathed as they try to wheel and deal their way to what they REALLY want.....MORE POWER! You will never look at the parade of candidates, the nightly news, the weekly political talk shows, a pollster, or your friendly political blog the same way.

..but I tried....I really really tried. I thought that this book was going to be cool, exciting and humorous. But, I found the lead character (Cass) to be boring and hypocritical. And if you can't connect with the lead character, then what's the point? It wasn't funny. Just absurd. Somewhere in the 7th chapter, I had enough and put the book down. A couple of days later, I tried again to read it. After all, I believe in second chances. But the names, characters and scenarios might just make you angry.

This was my introduction to the work of Christopher Buckley, unless you count seeing the movie "Thank You for Smoking", which I really liked. I have been wanting to read one of his novels for quite some time, but just never found the time for satire. Admittedly, he got me with that cover, and the premise sounded interesting.

Thirty pages into it, I was ready to quit. However, I pressed on, as I believe in giving every book and movie a chance to redeem itself. I cannot describe exactly why I was ready to stop reading, but it just didn't feel like it was going to be much fun. Things did get a bit more fun, but the characters became more ridiculous and more deplorable. I felt the lead character, Cass, was an absolute bore. Senator Jepperson did not act OR speak like a senator, even if most of what he was saying was in private throughout the book. Somehow his character faded out as the book went along, which was a mystery as I thought there was a lot of need for character development. And even though the author tries to make the idea of a bill in which baby boomers commit voluntary suicide to relieve the strain on Social Security seem plausible, come on. The President was a filthy loudmouth who has zero redeeming qualities thoughout the book (how did he ever become President?). And then there is Gideon Payne, a sterotypical evangelist who is fat, sweats a lot, and secretly lusts for women. His "change" at the end elicited the biggest groan. Can Buckley not do better than this? Also, the author treats Payne's proposal for a memorial to aborted babies as a very comical idea, but I found nothing funny about this, whether you are pro-life or pro-choice.

With everything I said, the book probably deserves two stars, as it moves at a good pace. The reason why I give it one star is the completely forced and anti-climatic ending. I don't know if satire really has "climax", but it was literally putting me to sleep. The only thing positive about the ending was any chuckling had stopped over 100 pages ago, so why go on? Buckley's other work is probably better, but since there is always such a dearth of negative book reviews on Amazon, it's hard to figure out which to avoid. Therefore, I think I will just avoid them all for now.

Listen, is everybody here reading Christopher Buckley? Seriously folks, you need to pick up a book. I know it's political satire. And a book about Social Security reform doesn't sound like it has a lot of potential. But trust me, this is laugh-out-loud funny stuff.

Who else could invent a pro-life organization called the Society for the Protection of Every Ribonucleic Molecule--or SPERM for short. Even his little throw-aways are fabulous. The protagonist is briefly incarcerated. In prison, there are so many jailed journalists refusing to name sources (from the Society Page, for example) that they have their own gang: Pulitzer Nation.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Cassandra Devine is a 29-year-old on a crusade. She feels passionately that her generation should not be bankrupted paying for the retirement benefits of baby boomers. With the government apparently unwilling to propose a workable solution she decides to bring this front and center in American politics as a "meta-issue." With her PR background and her senatorial mouthpiece she can make it happen. Suddenly "voluntary transitionsing," (legalized suicide at the age of 70 for tax breaks and other benefits) is all anyone can talk about. It goes from being a tool for dialogue to being seriously considered by voters.

Buckley has an amazing eye for skewering our culture. The reason he's so funny is that everything he observes is so painfully true! Fans of the Daily Show and the Colbert Report will surely enjoy.

Christopher Buckley comes by his wit and writing skills the really old-fashioned way - he inherited it. He has all of the mordent humor and superlative writing style of his dad, substantially updated for a new generation. Despite his actual age, he is obviously in touch with the concerns and worldview of the post-baby-boom generation, and indulges in a perilous thought exercise as to what would happen if this generation of under 40's were to flex their political muscle in a meaningful way.

He gleefully describes the biggest elephant in the room of current fiscal policy - the coming trainwreck of social security and medicare. The present entitlement system is unsustainable, but is presently being sustained by the fact that the boomers - tens of millions of silver heads - vote and contribute to political compaigns in huge numbers. He mercilessly lampoons the so-called Christian conservatives, limousine liberals, the AARP, and others will equal glee and unerring marksmanship.

A laugh-out-loud farce, Boomsday is also a sobering examination of a very real, if exaggerated, trend in American public policy: journalists jailed for refusing to name sources, American military power overextended and overdeployed throughout the world, and American fiscal policy held hostage by patronage, devisive politics, and lobbying.

The society he describes might be characterized an unthinkably remote possibility, but the one we live in today would seems so to someone living only 10 years ago.

...And, I am afraid, all to true.

As a Gen X/Y member (never sure which), I find it highly frustrating that Social Security (which I have been paying into all my life) will likely not be around to benefit me. This book made me laugh and it made me mad! Go Christopher Buckley!!!

(Although I probably won't be destroying golf carts any time soon.)