Boomsday is a satirical novel written by Christopher Buckley. It is loosely tied to his previous novels, Thank You for Smoking and Florence of Arabia.
Incensed after a new law increases the payroll tax on working adults under 35 in order to pay off mounting Social Security debt, Washington spin doctor and blogger Cassandra Devine politely suggests that the government start offering incentives to Baby Boomers to off themselves by age 75. In doing so, she touches off a generational war that an ambitious Senator hopes to ride to the White House.
This book contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Gideon's mother was an abusive, controlling and ultimately violently suicidal woman. Her abuse and tragic death have left Gideon with a crapload of psychological issues.
- Alliterative Name:
- Cassandra's birth name was Cassandra Cohane.
- Cassandra's boss' name is Terry Tucker. He is also a former protege of Nick Naylor.
- Gideon's friend and confidante is a triple case - Monsignor Massimo Montefeltro.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Monsignor Montefeltro spends the first half of the novel fervently wishing for an opportunity to rise up in the Catholic hierarchy. In the second half, he finally gets it, but can't really enjoy it because he's being blackmailed.
- Berserk Button: Gideon Payne really doesn't like it when people bring up the shady circumstances of his mother's death.
- Fun with Acronyms: Gideon Payne's organization is called the Society for the Protection of Every Ribonucleic Molecule, or SPERM.
- Hypocrite: Gideon Payne built his pro-life organization on money that he inherited from his mother... who he may have murdered. He also uses special software to profile the residents at his senior-living facilities so that he doesn't get stuck with residents who have a good chance of living for a long time.
- Loony Fan: Midway through the novel, Cassandra's tirades against boomers inspires a male nurse at a senior-living facility to murder elderly patients.
- Meaningful Name:
- "Cassandra" is, of course, the name of a seer who was famous for having her warnings ignored. It's even lampshaded in-universe.
- Cassiopeia Payne was almost certainly named for the Greek mythological villainess.
- Naturalized Name: Cassandra had her surname legally changed to "Devine" (her mother's maiden name) because nobody wanted to hire "Corporal Cohane" after she supposedly maimed a Congressman.
- Never My Fault: Cassandra blames her dad and Jepperson for the course of her life, despite many of her problems arising from her own bad decisions.
- Offing the Offspring: According to Gideon, he didn't kill his mother, she tried to kill him.
- Our Presidents Are Different: In the Boomsday universe, Riley Peacham became the 44th President instead of Barack Obama.
- Parental Savings Splurge: Cassandra's life started going wrong when her dickhead father invested her college fund in his failing business after spending his company's money on a private jet and a fancy car.
- Precision F-Strike: Asked to rebut Peacham's insistence that the economy is turning the corner, Jepperson bluntly tells the President to shut the fuck up. On live television.
- Refuge in Audacity: Cassandra's modest proposal is that Baby Boomers be offered incentives to kill themselves before they turn 75. She knows it has little chance of ever passing, but also figures that if she can make it popular enough, Congress will be forced to actually fix Social Security instead of just continuing to let it bloat.
- Relieved Failure: Gideon Payne is positively giddy when he loses his bid to become President, as he's since fallen in love with an immigrant escort, and he would not have been able to marry her if he'd become President.
- Self-Made Orphan: It's an open secret that Gideon Payne killed his mother in order to take over the family business.
- Shout-Out: The book was inspired by Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal, and that famous satirical tract is referenced in the book.
- Stealth Pun: Cassiopeia Payne. Consider her namesake's notorious punishment...
- Take That!: The book takes several potshots at Ayn Rand, particularly The Fountainhead.
- Upper-Class Twit: Randall K. Jepperson spent years in a cocaine-fueled haze, only stopping after his mother threatened to cut him off from the family fortune. She had hoped he would go into therapy, but he instead decided to go into politics.
- World of Jerkass: This being a Buckley novel, naturally the world is full of idiots and jerks.
- Worthy Opponent: As the plot continues on, Cassandra and Gideon end up seeing each other this way. While they have considerably different beliefs, the fact that they're honest about their beliefs creates a foundation for mutual respect.
