Outraged over the mounting Social Security debt, Cassandra Devine, a charismatic 29-year-old blogger and member of Generation Whatever, incites massive cultural warfare when she politely suggests that Baby Boomers be given government incentives to kill themselves by age 75. Her modest proposal catches fire with millions of citizens, chief among them "an ambitious senator seeking the presidency." With the help of Washington's greatest spin doctor, the blogger and the politician try to ride the issue of euthanasia for Boomers (called "transitioning") all the way to the White House, over the objections of the Religious Right, and of course, the Baby Boomers, who are deeply offended by demonstrations on the golf courses of their retirement resorts. Once again, political satirist Christopher Buckley ( Thank You for Smoking ) delivers a firecracker of a novel that explodes with imagination, irony, and wit. Buckley sometimes overexplains, to show off how smart he is, but he is discussing Social Security here. Besides boring subject matter, the novel contains a completely over-the-top premise and a lead character that strains credibility. So the overexplanation works, for the most part, because it evokes laughs. "If you're looking for a lighter, frothier version of Tom Wolfe," says the Los Angeles Times , " Boomsday is your ticket." Also of note: as the first release of the new publishing imprint Twelve, Boomsday comes packaged in an eye-catching, pop-art package. Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc. *Starred Review* With Boomsday looming as 77 million baby boomers get ready to retire and crash Social Security, Cassandra Devine, a sarcastic spin doctor by day and a ferocious blogger by night, calls for a revolution. Why should the under-35 crowd pay higher taxes to support the "Ungreatest Generation?" What have boomers done for anyone? Look at Cassandra's heinous father. He absconded with her Yale tuition and convinced her to enlist, leading to her encounter with a land mine while escorting Massachusetts senator Randolph Jepperson. After going to jail for instigating anti-oldster riots at golf courses, Cass takes a cue from Jonathan Swift and offers her own outrageous "modest proposal." With one eye on the White House and the other on tough and lovely Cass, blue-blood Jepperson decides to back her provocation. As Cass's mensch of a boss observes, "The line dividing reality from absurdity in this country has finally disappeared." With delectable, smart-talking characters and a devilishly clever story line, prizewinning humorist Buckley, author of the novel-turned-movie Thank You for Smoking (1994), has created a scrumptiously shrewd and hilarious political satire that takes bold measure of the newly widening generation gap and politics even worse than usual. Donna Seaman Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved "...a scrumptiously shrewd and hilarious political satire that takes bold measure of the newly widening generation gap and politics even worse than usual." -- ―«Donna Seaman, Booklist (starred review) "A lethally sharp satire . . . The more you ponder the novel's outrageous premise, the more seriously you might take it." -- ―Don McLeese, Kirkus Reviews, Spring/Summer Preview, 2007 "An accomplished comic novelist and raucously funny political satirist." -- --Sunday Times of London "Christopher Buckley has come up with the season's best subject for a novel: euthanasia." -- ―Adam Begley, New York Observer "One of the funnist writers in the English language." -- --Tom Wolfe "One of the rarest specimens -- the authentically comic writer." -- --Boston Globe "The humor is wicked and the satire incisive." -- ―Sandra Kent, Boston Herald "The quintessential political novelist of our time." -- --Fortune magazine "Washington is a serious place. That is, it used to be, until the novels of Christopher Buckley came along." -- ―Jeremy Grant, Financial Times Exquisitely dizzy, Wodehouse-style mischief...one of Mr. Buckley's fizziest satires..." -- --Janet Maslin, The New York Times Christopher Buckley, "the quintessential political novelist of his time" according to Fortune magazine, is the winner of the distinguished ninth annual Thurber Prize for American Humor, Tom Wolfe has described him as "one of the funniest writers in the English language." Buckley is the author of eleven books, many of them national bestsellers, including Thank You For Smoking, God Is My Broker, No Way To Treat A First Lady, and Florence of Arabia. His books have been translated into over a dozen languages, including Russian and Korean. Reviewed by Judy Budnitz Does government-sanctioned suicide offer the same potential for satire as, say, the consumption of children? Possibly. One need only look to Kurt Vonnegut's story "Welcome to the Monkey House," with its "Federal Ethical Suicide Parlors" staffed by Juno-esque hostesses in purple body stockings. Or the recent film "Ch