2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America by Albert Brooks

2030 starts of great, in fact it is rather engaging that is until you reach them end --- then it all just falls apart.

This dystopian novel takes place in the not too distant future. It has a large array of character's and Brooks does an excellent job of making them distinct. The "voice" of the US takes place mainly on the west and east coast, very little to no input come from the rest of the US.

The US is facing huge financial issues, old people are a financial drain on the system, the young carry the financial burden, a 9.o earthquake has leveled, Los Angeles and cancer is cured . The book is predictable and semi-believable.

Grade: C

Overview: [B&N]

Is this what’s in store?
June 12, 2030 started out like any other day in memory—and by then, memories were long. Since cancer had been cured fifteen years before, America’s population was aging rapidly. That sounds like good news, but consider this: millions of baby boomers, with a big natural predator picked off, were sucking dry benefits and resources that were never meant to hold them into their eighties and beyond. Young people around the country simmered with resentment toward “the olds” and anger at the treadmill they could never get off of just to maintain their parents’ entitlement programs.
But on that June 12th, everything changed: a massive earthquake devastated Los Angeles, and the government, always teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, was unable to respond.
The fallout from the earthquake sets in motion a sweeping novel of ideas that pits national hope for the future against assurances from the past and is peopled by a memorable cast of refugees and billionaires, presidents and revolutionaries, all struggling to find their way.