Rent: Boomsday

The basic plot for Boomsday is a great idea and hats off to Christopher Buckley to be prepared to tackle this serious issue. One that's not just for America but any western country with a social security system and a declining birth rate. Currently in the news, we out here in Australia have the two opposing generation camps going at it as the old age pensioners complain they can't live on the, in their words only measly $280 a week government handout. Countering that argument are the younger generation (who won't even have a pension when they reach retirement age and are being forced to save part of their income in an untouchable until they get really old account known as Superannuation). The young generation point out that a lot of them don't even make $280 from paid employment and they will never be able to afford buy their own homes, whilst so the so called struggling retirees go home to their houses now worth at least three quarters of a million dollars that they paid less than a hundred grand for a few decades ago. So I eagerly looked forward to reading Boomsday just to see how Buckley's fictional generation representatives played this very relevant to today scenario out. I have to admit though, I was kind of disappointed.

Don't get wrong there are some great characters in here, none more so than Cassandra Devine a young girl whose dreams were cut short as her father gambled away her college fund on his dotcom business, so even though she got into Yale all she could hope for was that by serving in the military, they would pay her fees years down the track. Cassandra has an encounter with a dim witted politician in a minefield so is forced to take a spin doctor job in the real world. Obsessed with blogging she declares war on what she terms the "ungreatest generation" but who call themselves the babyboomers. She proposes a plan to give incentives for individuals from this generation to kill themselves and remove the burden that is them from society when they reach the age of seventy. What the story really missed though was some great eccentric old people like found in Dave Barry's Tricky Business. Most of the baby boomer characters such as the PR boss Terry and Senator Randolph Jepperson were on the youth viewpoint side. President Peacham although stupid didn't have any eccentric funny characteristics at all. The only babyboomer that did was TV priest Gideon Payne was too much of a loser for you to expect that side of the debate could win. The novel was lighter than other killing off old people novels such as P J Tracy's Live Bait. It did have a fair few funny moments in it but the main problem with Boomsday is that it doesn't have a satisfactory ending. The story is going along and then suddenly there's an epilogue. It's almost as if Buckley couldn't be bothered writing anymore or had no idea how his story was going to end. None of the important issues the book is about are resolved at all by the characters leaving the reader to wonder if the real world can do it all either.

If you like eccentric character fiction also check out authors Carl Hiaasen with his novels such as Stormy Weather. Bill Fitzhugh author of masterpieces such as Pest Control, author Christopher Moore, author of Lamb and other novels have all also mastered this genre.

Christopher Buckley's title as the master of the "nothing-sacred" school of satire is as steady as ever with his latest novel, 2007's "Boomsday". But black humor only goes so far without interesting characters or story.

Cassandra Devine is 20-something, beautiful, and has something of a chip on her shoulder. High-profile PR flack by day, Red Bull-swilling blogger at night, she sets in motion a taxpayer revolt like no other. Her target: Baby Boomers about to enter retirement and force working America to pay for their martini-soaked Social-Security-funded dotage. Her recommended solution: Kill them all!

Actually, her recommendation for what she euphemistically terms "transitioning" would work on a voluntary basis, and her actual commitment to the idea, like much else in this book, is left vague. "Boomsday" lacks focus in a lot of ways. It seems to be a conscious revisiting of the theme of his best-known novel, "Thank You For Smoking", with a Washington spinmeister pushing death on the masses. Only this time the story gets away from Buckley rather quickly.

Buckley still crafts engaging prose, presenting Cassandra's central thesis with memorable pungency: "Our grandparents grew up in the Depression and fought in World War Two. They were the so-called Greatest Generation. Our parents, the Baby Boomers, dodged the draft, snorted cocaine, made self-indulgence a virtue. I call them the Ungreatest Generation."

But when you make it past the snarky set ups and whip-smart rejoinders, you find little in the way of a story. Buckley's dialogue works for a while, until you realize everyone has the same clever-preppy voice. Cassandra whines about the mess of her life even as she beds a Senator, lands on the cover of Time magazine, and suffers no fallout from her controversial position. Even the shady boss of her PR firm stands beside her, for reasons never made clear. If this is supposed to make us hate Cassandra's elders for holding her down, it's not working.

Maybe Buckley thought of this, and was aiming to shoot Cassandra down at some point, the way he did "Smoking's" anti-hero Nick Naylor. Only he doesn't pull the trigger. He doesn't resolve her story in any way, nor any of the other subplots here, such as an evangelist who discovers sex, a tech-billionaire who craves a Cabinet post, or a President who uses domestic espionage to extend his unpopular administration. They are instead tossed up for evanescent amusement, then conveniently forgotten.

"Thank You For Smoking" isn't a classic; it's a bit facile and lacks the sense of humanity, however dyspeptic, that marks the work of satirists like Swift or Waugh. But its smart narrative mechanics and Naylor's character arc make it a veritable classic beside "Boomsday's" mentality of "whatever".

Read "Boomsday", if you must, for the relevant argument on Social Security and with the understanding Buckley can, and has, done better.

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.

Boomsday is a drop dead funny look at one rebellous blogger, Cassandra Devine, and our current dysfunctional Social Security system. Cassandra's solution is simple: Give Baby Boomers government incentives to kill themselves by age seventy-five. Why should that upset anyone? If her father had not blown her Yale tuition on a dot.com start-up, she would've never wound up having sex in a minefield with a U.S. Congressman to begin with. Okay, so she has some anger issues...
This book reminds me of Evelyn Waugh's irreverent book The Loved One, also (recommend). Buckley is hilarious!

DC Harvard Alums Book Club had a mixed reaction to BOOMSDAY. As satire on Washington, many felt that the book hit the mark, while others thought that the jokes got a little old and the story line started to drag. This is not to discount Buckley's ability to paint vivid character portraits that have become such a large part of his style. But as a send up of Washington, some members felt that Jeffrey Frank's THE COLUMNIST provides an even sharper wit and insight into the ways and means of Washington DC. One member suggested that the book was more a "treatment" for Hollywood consideration, than a true novel. Chapters are very short. The story line hops around and when the story advances it does so with a cinematic quality (which is great for movies, but not what novels are suppose to be about). Buckley is an excellent provocateur. While the club discussed his novel for about 30 minutes. The discussion really heated up over the next hour when we discussed end of life issues, social security reform and how club members are dealing/dealt with aged parents. It was a lively discussion, one that Cassandra, Gideon and all the other characters of BOOMSDAY would have enjoyed.