Boomsday: A Gen X'ers Review

I am tardy on this review. The book came out in 2007, but I just read it. I am way behind on my reading list. This book is called Boomsday, and it was written by Christopher Buckley. You may know him as being the author of one of my favorite novels (and movies) Thank You For Smoking.

I love political satire. It's my favorite. And this novel does not disappoint. If you loved Nick Naylor and all his work at the Academy of Tobacco Studies, then this is a must read...especially if you are a Gen X'er.

Here's the basic plot:

In the not-so-distant future, the U.S. is engaged in six wars, the economy is in a downturn  because of a $1.1 trillion deficit, and citizens under age 35 face tax hikes of 30% to pay for the retirement of millions of baby boomers...77 million to be exact. (Sound familiar? Yes, I promise it is political satire. Fiction!)

29-year-old blogger Cassandra Devine is outraged by the Social Security crisis. She is furious that she and her peers (which Buckley names ''Generation W,'' short for whatever) are being forced to pay for pampered ''Wrinklies''. To start a meta-discussion, she decides to convince opportunistic Sen. Randy Jepperson to sponsor a bill urging boomers to commit suicide — or voluntarily ''transition'' themselves at age 70, in order to make SS solvent. However, the bill that was introduced just to bring focus to the Social Security problem becomes a huge election-year issue.

Buckley goes after the Social Security debacle, the Baby Boomers, the Gen X'ers, politicians, the Catholic church, and pro-lifers in such a funny way, I just kept turning pages. Before I knew it, I had read it in two days. As I was reading, I fell in love with the characters and the story so much, I kept thinking "I want to adapt this for a screenplay." Well, as a punishment for my belated reading of the book, it turns out the script has already been written...and the movie begins shooting in 2011.

My only problem with the story is that it may not go far enough...but I refuse to give things away...you have to read it for yourself.