Boomsday

Fiction

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2018-06-26 17:23:41

Boomsday (novel)

Boomsday
Author: Christopher Buckley
Cover artist: Will Staehle
Country: United States
Language: English
Genre(s): Political Satirical novel
Publisher: Twelve
Publication date: April 2, 2007
Media type: Print
Pages: 336 (First Ed. Hardback)
ISBN: 978-0446579810
OCLC Number : 70885026
Dewey Decimal: 813/.54 22
LC Classification: PS3552.U3394 B66 2007

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.

Title:

Boomsday is referred 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.

Reception:

The novel received mainly positive reviews, with critics favoring the unsubtle satire and the addressing of nigh-important issues. 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 will direct the film in early 2011 for GreeneStreet Films and Das Films.

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2018-06-26 17:23:41