Boomsday - Christopher Buckley
Christopher Buckley and controvesial subject matters seem to go together like peanut butter and jelly. You may recall that Mr. Buckley is the author of the National Best Seller Thank You For Smoking which was a tongue in cheek novel about chief spokesman for the Academy of Tobacco Study Nick Nayler and his pro-smoking lobbying antics. Buckley has returned in his controversial fashion with his latest novel Boomsday which is guaranteed to be a book that will spark much debate and discussion in regards to Social Security reform.
Boomsday introduces us to the loveable yet slightly sadistic you Cassandra Devine. Miss Devine was an ambitious young girl with aspirations to attend the college of her dreams...Yale University. That dream was shot down in flames when she finds that her father had squandered all of her college funds on his failing upstart dotcome company. So instead of Yale Cassandra winds up the Army with the hopes of one day attending Yale after completing her stint. Unfortunately as luck would have it, she gets dishonorably discharged when an audacious senator recklessly drives them into a minefield.
Ten years later Cassandra is an ambitious young Spin Doctor by day and a frustrated blogger by night and into the early morning (thanks to Red Bull). Why is she frustrated? Aside from the aforementions she is angered by the way the government has mismanaged social secuirty and the rising debt that it is acquiring every day. Devine refuses to let her generation be the one responsible for paying the tab that the Boomers will leave behind so she decides it is time for something to be done. In her blog she suggests that Baby Boomers be given financial incentives if they kill themselves by the age of seventy five thus saving the government billions of dollars. Much to her surprise this idea is met with open arms from the Buster generation and even some from the government warm up to the idea.
Boomsday is a very entertaining and slightly morbid read that will certainly get the reader thinking about social security reform. Christopher Buckley has crafted a novel that is both educational and entertaining. No matter if you are a Boomer or a Buster Boomsday is a must read.
