Boomsday by Christopher Buckley Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Boomsday
Book Review: A delicious cocktail of vitriol wisdom and rue(ROFL)
Summary: 5 Stars
With the country at war and the economy in shambles an under thirty spinmeister finds a meaningful solution to the Social Security crunch: Persuade the boomers to commit for suicide. From an outrageous premise, Buckley has crafted a thought provoking laugh out loud funny romp through the foibles of our twisted politcal morass. From the see no problem left to the leave the weak to the wolves of the right, every position on the political spectrum is skewered. A satire that will make every one laugh, but realize the politicians of our age prefer to keep problems rather than solve them. So would the band strike up something with a danceable beat that we may dance and not worry when we hit the iceberg.Book Review: A novel take on aging Baby Boomers
Summary: 3 Stars
Who, may I ask, is better equipped to be America's premier comic novelist than Christopher Buckley? I find that his fiction is the proper response to being raised by would-be WASP Irish Roman Catholics. Please note: I am not commenting on William and Pat Buckley's politics or hobbies. What I'm saying is that there is irony inherent in the conjunction of Hibernian dogma and Anglican style. In novels from FLORENCE OF ARABIA to THANK YOU FOR SMOKING, Buckley has demonstrated that the tensions in his upbringing and milieux were not wasted on him; he knows when a cigar is just a cigar, and when a good cigarette is a joke.
Thus, I eagerly looked forward to BOOMSDAY, Buckley's latest riposte to American politics and popular culture. I was even happier to see it released from Jonathan Karp's Twelve, an imprint of Hachette Book Group USA, whose mission is to release no more than one peach of a book in any given month and focus on bringing that fair fruit to readers.
Twelve's mission statement says, "We will publish meaningful stories, true and fictional. Stories told artfully by authors who have a unique perspective and compelling authority. The singular book. Books that explain our culture; that illuminate, inspire, provoke, and entertain." Does BOOMSDAY fulfill this? Let's see:
1. Meaningful stories: In a not-so-distant future America, Baby Boomer debt has threatened Social Security sufficiently that a blog-born movement advocating voluntary euthanasia at age 65 gains credence. Meaningful? Check.
2. Stories told artfully: Buckley has a winning way with a scene, whether it occurs in a Humvee or a bedroom. Check.
3. Authors who have a unique perspective and compelling authority: Buckley's perspective is both singularly authoritative and compellingly unique. Check.
4. The singular book: What, you thought someone else was writing about voluntary euthanasia schemes? Check.
5. Books that explain our culture: Since Buckley takes on blogs, Congress, the electoral process, the Vatican, Russian prostitutes, Yale's admissions policy and more, I'd say Check.
6. That illuminate, inspire, provoke, and entertain: Two checks. And two balances. Read on for an explanation.
In not-too-distant future America, good-ol'-boy President Riley Peacham is the lame duck candidate confronting blogger-with-a-mission Cassandra Devine, whose voice-of-doom web journal is the vehicle for her unique solution to the coming Social Security crisis. Her ethics-free boss, Terry Tucker (reminiscent in morals and alliteration of THANK YOU FOR SMOKING's Nick Naylor), and mannerism-heavy boyfriend, Senator Randolph Jepperson of Massachusetts, alternately lead her on and astray, tossing out bon mots like bon-bons along the way.
Buckley writes both smart and funny; he provokes and entertains. Does he also illuminate and inspire? In this book, I'm not as certain of that as I was with THANK YOU FOR SMOKING. Perhaps it's because I could not find a shred of sympathy for or empathize with any character in the book. Still, I have found it intriguing that few reviews mention the raw deal Cassandra gets when her father defaults on her first tuition payment to Yale and she enlists in the army. I did feel a little sympathy for her then.
There was lots of humor in the cast but little engagement. Also, the middle-aged Boomer characters are uniformly heinous (fallen evangelist Gideon Payne, Papal-election-conscious Monsignor Montrefelte and Cassandra's greedy father, Frank Cohane). But aside from Cassandra, who seems a bit shrill and earnest at times, there are no young characters. Maybe the author needs to go hang out at Old Blue for a while and tune in. Remember, that's not "turn on," Mr. Buckley.
--- Reviewed by Bethanne Kelly Patrick
Book Review: A riotous political novel
Summary: 5 Stars
Reviewed by April Sullivan for Reader Views (4/07)
"Boomsday" is a hilarious look at America's political scene in the near future, when Baby Boomers are all set to retire while the current generation pays for it. The demise of Social Security is a ripe subject, and Christopher Buckley spins it to the utmost degree in this political satire. Cassandra Devine is a young public relations executive in Washington, DC who comes up with a crazy idea for solving the national Social Security debt by suggesting that all Boomers sign up for "Voluntary Transitioning" at the age of seventy. By this she means choose euthanasia as a way to save the younger generation the burden of paying for their retirement years. She puts this idea out on her blog and starts riots all over the country. A Junior Senator from Massachusetts latches onto the idea and a wild presidential race begins with "Transitioning" as a core subject of debate.
Christopher Buckley is a skilled writer who obviously knows his subject matter. He has written a dozen books, all of a political nature, with his best-known book being the national best-seller and now movie "Thank You for Smoking." Buckley keeps the action moving and the politics from being dry and boring with his witty characters and over the edge storylines.
The fun of this book is that it is for everyone. The younger generation will relate to Cassandra and her world of blogging and Blackberries. The baby boomers will get a kick out of this book as long as they are not too sensitive to being referred to in terms such as "Wrinklies." As a Generation Xer, I felt like I was in the perfect position; just sitting in the middle watching it all whirl around me. But that is what we slackers are good at.
I particularly enjoyed Cassandra as the heroine. She was tough, sexy, smart, and funny. She never gave up on her convictions. In typical DC style, when everyone started stabbing each other in the back to climb the political ladder, she joined right in and got her own foothold.
I must admit I am not a big follower of the political issues, and I was worried this book would be a little over my head and bogged down with current events. I was pleasantly surprised. "Boomsday" is an exciting read that makes the circus of Capitol Hill a fun one. With Christopher Buckley as my political advisor, I could find myself paying attention to the news. I look forward to reading more books by Buckley.
Book Review: A satire that is hard-hitting, timely, and fairly funny
Summary: 4 Stars
After hearing author Buckley's NPR interview some months ago, I knew that I just had to read "Boomsday." Being a boomer myself and understanding the sorry state in which Social Security, as well as other government entities, finds itself, I felt that the novel had something to say to us all.
I was not dissatisfied.
Though the book gets off to a somewhat slow start, it picks up steam once the characters' lives begin to intertwine...and do they ever. From Cassandra Devine, the central character, to her U. S. Senator lover to an overzealous evangelist to the sitting President and his chief aide to a pair of Russian prostitutes, the author populates the book with vivid characterizations that are amusing as well as provocative. He really pulls out all the stops to humorously and effectively relay the political machinations of our nation's capital.
As I was reading the book, I can already imagine the actors playing the various parts, should the rights be sold to Hollywood: Hilary Swank would make a great Cassandra, Julian McMahon could assay the Senator, Robert DeNiro would be great as Cassandra's dad, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman would be perfect as evangelist Gideon Payne.
Book Review: A satirical take on the social security crisis: good, but not great.
Summary: 4 Stars
A fun riff on the upcoming war between the 77 million Baby Boomers who will soon start collecting Social Security and other taxpayer financed benefits and those who will be footing the bill.
Cassandra "Cass" Devine, a Washington publicist decides to create a "meta-issue" by suggesting that the Baby Boomers kill themselves at age 70 to avoid subjecting younger people to onerous taxes. "Transitioning" is the euphemism for legalized suicide.
An unlikely cast of characters is involved. Cass's boss, a highly skilled (which means ethically dubious) Washington public relations operator, a venal President and his chief political advisor, an entrepreneur with some moral problems of his own who wants the nation to live by what he says, not what he does, a Massachusetts Senator who is, putting it mildly, just a bit off-kilter, which I suppose is why he is so convincing.
This is pure satire and pretty good satire at that. The issue is serious: the reality that when Social Security was conceivedt there were 15 workers for each retired person and now the ratio is approaching two workers for each retiree. Since Social Security is operated as a Ponzi scheme with today's wage earners supporting retirees with current earnings, the system has to collapse if not quickly reformed.
Of course politicians keep handing off the political timebomb and that provides grist for Buckley's mill.
Cass gets the ball rolling and soon there are many players, all of whom want something for nothing and none of whom have what used to be called a "moral compass".
Buckley is a fine writer of satire. The book never becomes partisan nor does it ever provide truly biting commentary. It's just a fun romp with a very serious issue.
Jerry