Book Log 2007 #29: Boomsday by Christopher Buckley

Not to be confused with the Tennessee fireworks celebration of the same name, Boomsday sees Christopher Buckley turn his witty writing style towards intergenerational issues in politics and media. The title comes from a term coined by a blogger for the impact Baby Boomers will have on the national economy (most notably Social Security), using resources that the less populous age cohorts behind them will be unable to replenish by the time they get to retirement. The blogger's wrath at Boomers (fuled by a father who used her college money to fund his tech start-up) fuels further anger by other under-30s, and humor ensues.

I'm not sure this quite reaches the level of Thank You For Smoking, but it's certainly better humor and better satire than the likes of some of his more recent books. The only negative for me was the ending, which seemed both abrupt and a bit of a cop-out. Buckley does a better job at portraying people younger than himself than many authors, which is refreshing.

That being said, a strong recommendation here.

As a side note, Boomsday is an offering from Twelve Books, an imprint that only releases one book a month. It's an interesting concept, if presented a bit pretentiously on its website.