Boomsday
by Christopher Buckley
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Book Reviews of Boomsday
Book Review: Buckley at his best!
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
Book Review: DC Harvard Alums Book Club reviews BOOMSDAY
Summary: 2 Stars
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.Book Review: We ain't Heavy
Summary: 5 Stars
Ah, the Baby Boomers:
We ain't Heavy, we're your brothers
and sisters, and children, and parents, and grandparents, and the big fat undigested rat in the middle of Social Security's Ponzi Boa Constrictor. Or is that rat really pariah/piranha?
Starting with a quote attributed to Herbert Hoover:
Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt,
Boomer Christopher Buckley's self-mocking latest political satire lampoons Boomers ("the UNgreatest Generation") and the impending impact of our retirement on the Social Security Administration; "Boomsday" being the term used to designate the date when the first of the US's 77 million Baby Boomers begin to retire with full Social Security benefits.
What if this somewhat self-indulgent bunch were offered incentives to "solve" the problem of our malingering on the system?
This is Buckley at his introspective, politically incorrect, farcically follied best. /TundraVision, Amazon Reviewer
PS: You CAN judge THIS book by its snazzy cover. That red cloud in which the title radiates, is actually a cut-out hole in the sun-rays of the cardboard cover. Groovy!!!
Book Review: Affecting ... just like Idiocracy and Dilbert
Summary: 4 Stars
I am a huge fan of Christopher Buckley. He is bright, clever, witty, all that and a bag of chips. "Thank You for Smoking" is a true masterpiece, and I used to be one of Nick Naylor's brethren. I read Boomsday from the perspective of a former public affairs consultant (as the protag, Cass) and a former candidate for national office (as the protag's romantic interest), as well as a member of the generation that is going to take it in the shorts as a result of America's unsustainable Social Security and Medicare entitlement regimes. And I responded to the book the same way I responded to the film "Idiocracy" and the comic "Dilbert" - I wished it were funny instead of sad. I wished it were satire instead of observation. I wished that I could see it through the eyes of someone who hasn't been there/done that/got the t-shirt.
I give Buckley great credit for writing an accessible, engaging commentary on the greatest challenge our country faces. I encourage everyone to read the book so they can understand, at least at a cursory level, the enormity of the debt tsunami that will inexorably and inevitably destroy our economy.
Book Review: Not up to par!
Summary: 2 Stars
Let me start by saying that I have read a lot of Buckley. I have read (in order): Thank You For Smoking, No Way to Treat a First Lady. Little Green Men, and Florence of Arabia.
Anyway, I was disappointed with this book. Buckley's previous works demonstrated his ability to come up with great plots, great characters and especially great dialogue. I thought the books had an okay plot but the characters were lacking. Cass, despite being the protagonist, had no depth and feeling. Her character was not relatable and she was predictable. The other main characters didn't help Buckley's cause. Even more dissatisfying was the dialogue. Albeit, Buckley set the bar really high with Thank You For Smoking, Boomsday didn't event scratch the surface. The dialogue felt cheap and unimaginative. There were one or two good lines but not much more than that. Finally, I felt the book took many cheap shots at being humorous and/or ironic. All fell short. Even the use of modern technology was too forced and not believable.