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.
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"Buckley's novel successfully articulates the frustrations of the "Under-30s," as our main character, Cassandra Devine calls us. The baby boomers made a better living on less education and training, while our generation struggles to make ends meet, despite having college-level educations. To make matters worse, the baby boomer retirees' lifestyle is being billed to us! At times this story is ridiculous, but in the end it forces us to question the democratic process, its shortcomings, and encourages us to find ways to fix them."
— Aaron (4 out of 5 stars)
“Washington is a serious place. That is, it used to be, until the novels of Christopher Buckley came along.”
— Financial Times“The humor is wicked and the satire incisive.”
— Boston Herald“A lethally sharp satire…The more you ponder the novel’s outrageous premise, the more seriously you might take it.”
— Kirkus Reviews“A scrumptiously shrewd and hilarious political satire that takes bold measure of the newly widening generation gap and politics even worse than usual.”
— Booklist“Once again, political satirist Christopher Buckley delivers a firecracker of a novel that explodes with imagination, irony, and wit.”
— Bookmarks" Holy Cows, this could actually happen! I adore this author "
— Courtney, 2/19/2014" This book took me a while to get into and even when I did, I was constantly waiting for it to "get a little better." Perhaps my expectations were too high because of how great Thank-You For Smoking is. The book was entertaining and I love how Buckley pushes the envelope and points out the ridculousness of Washington and politics. But the writing just wasn't there. And the ending was horrible--too abrupt and not satisfying. "
— Kristen, 2/10/2014" Listen. If you like satire, then you will love Christopher Buckley. This guy is a clever, funny, sometimes silly man who digs in to every facet of society with biting wit and satire. His books are often political, and this is no exception. A young political blogger starts a revolution by suggesting the "baby boomers" commit suicide shortly after retiring to help the social security deficit. Buckley is fearless, shameless, and seriously funny. "
— Lacy, 2/5/2014" Two stars even though I stopped listening to the library mp3 (which usually would leave 1 star the lowest). I might start it again. The usual smooth and witty Buckley style, a skewering of the elite classes, an attractive female central character - all should have been a plus. But the premise of a revolt of Gen X vs. the Baby Boomers over the Boomers living high off Social Security was too nauseating and too current for me to stomach. "
— Frank, 2/1/2014" A fast, quick, satirical read--seems like it could be made into a movie in the near future. It was set in DC, and the main character works on K street, which is where I'm working this summer, so that was kind of fun to get all the location references, but sort of a fluffy, silly book. "
— Amber, 1/29/2014" Witty, funny, sarcastic, just what one would expect from Christopher Buckley. "
— Karen, 1/27/2014" This book is prescient, hilarious satire. I wish I were as feisty and able to follow through as the heroine, Cassandra Devine. If you're worried about Social Security reform or just enjoy political satire, this book won't disappoint. "
— Maya, 1/17/2014" A really funny, quick read. The cast of characters gets a little big at times, but it's a good story and it's organized, so that keeps it easy to follow all of the threads. "
— Holly, 12/11/2013" A fun satire and quick read. Finished most of book on flight from Portland to Boston. "
— Handel, 11/23/2013" Satire made even better by Garafalo's reading the audio version. "
— Heather, 10/22/2013" This book is hilarious. You will not stop laughing. It is a must read. "
— Sara, 10/10/2013" Fabulously witty satire that makes fun of baby boomers and politicians. Highly recommended. "
— Debbie, 7/21/2013" This is the funniest/cleverest book I've read in quite some time. I really enjoyed the movie "Thank You for Smoking," which was based on another of Buckley's novels. I will have to seek out more of Buckley's writing. "
— Rick, 7/21/2013" Good for political satire fans. "
— Janet, 5/26/2013" This book is very similar to "Thank you for Smoking" but I think the overall execution of that book was better. "
— Shelley, 5/25/2013" nice breezy political satire. I haven't read much in this genre but Christopher Buckley is hilarious. The premise is outrageous and so are the characters! "
— Natasha, 3/19/2013" I found this book completely engaging, very accessible, and pretty darn timely. Somehow, I kept thinking of Johnathon Swift's satiric "A Modest Proposal" as Buckley led us through the transformation of Cassandra's own proposal at the hands of the media, politicians, and special interest groups. "
— randy, 3/2/2013" Fun book, but ultimately an unsatisfying ending for me. "
— Gina, 12/5/2012" A funny premise is less funny in execution. Despite some good digs against boomers - and lord knows I love those - the problem with this and most "humorous" novels is that the plot and characters exist only to serve the jokes, with deeply mixed results. Still, it was entertaining enough. "
— Sarah, 5/24/2012" what can i say, contemporary, relevant, buckley "
— John, 5/10/2012" A combination of funny and depressing. "
— Angela, 2/4/2012" meh. Christopher Buckley writes the same book over and over, with diminishing returns. "Thank you for Smoking" was pretty good. "
— Seth, 12/30/2011" Funny light read, about boomers all retiring and causing failure in government so solution is to have a tax credit for "voluntary transitioning" "
— Kelli, 11/10/2011" Totally funny book--LOVED IT! A bit of genius with the idea--sorry Mom and Dad, LOL!! "
— Kelly, 6/25/2011" I loved this book. It was warped and twisted and it's fun. This moved Buckley way up my to read list. "
— Greg, 6/16/2011" This is great. Not like nobel-prize great, but very cute. Gets over the top at points. Read it in a day, total page-turner. "
— Gretchen, 6/9/2011" 20-somethings revolt against Boomers over Social Security. "
— Betsy, 6/8/2011" Terrific satire - a very timely topic "
— Deborah, 5/27/2011" This is a very readable tale of a modest proposal gone haywire, and it does make one wonder what's to be done about Social Security. "
— Rebecca, 5/25/2011" An amusing, quick read. The plot is rather thin; Mr. Buckley is more interested in moving from one humorous scenario to the next than telling an engaging story. That's fine. The humor was enough to keep me reading. "
— Jason, 5/22/2011" The story is incredingly interesting and challenging, some characters are very well developed but the language is so poor I could not bring myself to give it more than 2 stars. "
— Anne, 4/25/2011" Giving this four stars for now; it's hilarious and I was really loving it. Unfortunately the car decided to eat it after a recent road trip, so until it gives it back or I buy another one, it's tabled. "
— Nicole, 4/21/2011" nice breezy political satire. I haven't read much in this genre but Christopher Buckley is hilarious. The premise is outrageous and so are the characters! "
— Natasha, 4/4/2011" This is my first time to read a book by Buckley and I put him in my short list of my favorite satirists.<br/>I work for the federal government so the idiosyncrasies - pardon me - were all on the money.<br/>A very fun read. "
— Judie, 3/27/2011Christopher Buckley is a novelist, essayist, humorist, critic, magazine editor, and memoirist. His books include Thank You for Smoking, The Judge Hunter, Make Russia Great Again, and The Relic Master. He worked as a merchant seaman and White House speechwriter. He has written for many newspapers and magazines and has lectured in over seventy cities around the world. He was awarded the Thurber Prize for American Humor and the Washington Irving Medal for Literary Excellence.