Boomsday [Paperback]

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.

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