7.4 /10 1 Votes
Cover artist Will Staehle Publication date April 2, 2007 ISBN 978-0-446-57981-0 Country United States of America Genres Satire, Fiction | 3.7/5 Goodreads Language English Media type Print Originally published 2 April 2007 Publisher Hachette Book Group OCLC 70885026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Pages 336 pp (First Edition, Hardback) Similar Christopher Buckley books, Fiction books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Boomsday is a 2007 novel by Christopher Buckley, which is a political satire about the rivalry between squandering Baby Boomers and younger generations of Americans who do not want to pay high taxes for their elders' retirement.
Contents
Title
Boomsday is referred to in the book as the day that a majority of the Baby Boomers would begin retiring, thrusting the United States into economic trouble and the raising of taxes to compensate for Social Security.
Plot synopsis
Cassandra Devine, "a morally superior twenty-nine-year-old PR chick" and moonlit angry blogger, incites generational warfare when she proposes that the financially nonviable Baby Boomers be given incentives (free Botox, no estate tax) to kill themselves at 70. The proposal, meant only as a catalyst for debate on the issue, catches the approval of millions of citizens, chief among them an ambitious presidential candidate, Senator Randolph Jepperson.
With the aide of public relations guru Terry Tucker, Devine and Jepperson attempt to ride "Voluntary Transitioning" all the way to the White House, over the objections of the Religious Right and the Baby Boomers, deeply offended by the demonstrations taking place on the golf courses of their retirement resorts.
Connections to other media
Terry Tucker, Cassandra's boss and co-conspirator, is said to have learned what he knows from Nick Naylor, the protagonist of Buckley's 1994 novel Thank You For Smoking.
Reception
The New York Times compared Boomsday to Saturday Night Live and the works of Kurt Vonnegut, although both comparisons were unfavorable, noting that Buckley's novel "might make you long for the days when puerile humor wasn't confused with genuine wit."
Film adaptation
Screenwriters Ron Bass and Jen Smolka have adapted the novel into a screenplay. Tom Vaughan was announced as director for a film production announced for early 2011 shooting by GreeneStreet Films and Das Films. As of mid-2013, the movie was still officially classed as "in production".