Audio book review: “Boomsday”


“Boomsday” by Christopher Buckley. Read by Janeane Garofalo. Unabridged, 10 hours, 9 CDs. Hachette Audio. $39.98.

The generation gap between boomers and Gen X-ers turns riotous, as youths storm gated retirement communities and destroy golf courses in this farce about Social Security, politics, lobbying, money and lust.

Cassandra Devine, a 20-something lobbyist working for Terry Tucker (the uber-lobbyist extraordinaire made famous in Buckley’s “Thank You For Smoking”), is a blogger by night who marshals the forces of the jaded youth in protest of the lack of Social Security reform. The system is about to be used up by the fat, happy louts of the baby boomer generation, and the book’s title refers to the day when most of these boomers retire and send the United States into an economic tailspin.

Her key proposal is a bill called “Voluntary Transitioning,” in which those of retirement age agree to commit suicide to keep Social Security solvent. Dark humor, yes. But Buckley does a masterful job of showing how such an outrageous idea would play in Washington, with a gleeful press snagging great headlines, the religious right aghast at such an evil idea, retirement organizations seeking tax breaks and other costly incentives for the volunteers (and their heirs), politicians making compromises as they navigate ever-changing public and special interest sentiment and businessmen looking to make a buck and garner power.

Though there are plenty laugh-out-loud moments, the satire’s plot often plays out at the expense of Cassandra, who, though the main character, isn’t always consistently believable.

For example, if she really is a principled blogger worried about Social Security, why would she work for such an amoral lobbyist? And if she is supposed to be both bright and conniving, how can we be expected to take her romance for a sleazy senator seriously? In other words, her feelings and ideas don’t seem to rise naturally from her character, but feel imposed upon her by the author.

Nonetheless, Garofalo nails her performance, wringing out the liveliness and laughter in Buckley’s best lines. Listening to her is a sheer joy, especially the brilliant set-piece of the right-wing religious leader Gideon Payne’s descent into drunken debauchery.

Categories: Literature
Michael Janairo

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