| List Price: | |
| Price: | $25.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details... |
| You Save: | $0.00(0.00%) |
| Binding: | Kindle Edition |
| EAN: | |
| Feature: | |
| Label: | St. Martin's Press |
| Publisher: | St. Martin's Press |
| Studio: | St. Martin's Press |
| Tags: |
Editorial Reviews
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. In 2030, the author’s all-too-believable imagining of where today’s challenges could lead us tomorrow makes gripping and thought-provoking reading.
Related Reviews
Classic Brooks themes: no empty calories here
Is "2030" the new "1984"? Albert Brooks says Yes!
The most trenchant dystopian prophecies arise in the hearts of the disillusioned. Erstwhile socialist George Orwell witnessed the horrors of both the 20th Century's forms of totalitarianism - fascist and communist - and then applied his journalist's skills to his perennially relevant novel of foreboding. But while "1984" was groundbreaking in its day, today such visions of the future abound to the point where cautionary scenarios drown each other out.
Which is where Albert Brooks comes in. Because where the lectures of scientists and political activists - complete with statistics and graphs - often bore rather than motivate, Brooks' applies the dry, satiric sensibility that has been in his wheelhouse since he first cracked up Johnny Carson on "Tonight".
In his version of the future, the human spirit has been trampled by forces less dictatorial than they are simply banal. The social contract has been breached, Brooks tells us, not by fiat, but by over-extension, and people struggle to survive, not against nature or an all-powerful state, but against each other.
The United States has been reduced to the equivalent of a third-world nation, the difference being that instead of foreign debt and ownership being the hobbling burdens, it is the promises made and bills come due of previous generations. Scary but realistic enough to leave one with a sense that perhaps it won't take as many as nineteen years for many of Brooks' fears to come true. Some passages may even evoke a sense of having actually happened to someone - a friend's cousin or a cousin's friend.
The story Brooks' tells in "2030" entertains as it warns and, with each day's headlines as reinforcements, will occupy readers' imaginations long after they've finished it.
Which is where Albert Brooks comes in. Because where the lectures of scientists and political activists - complete with statistics and graphs - often bore rather than motivate, Brooks' applies the dry, satiric sensibility that has been in his wheelhouse since he first cracked up Johnny Carson on "Tonight".
In his version of the future, the human spirit has been trampled by forces less dictatorial than they are simply banal. The social contract has been breached, Brooks tells us, not by fiat, but by over-extension, and people struggle to survive, not against nature or an all-powerful state, but against each other.
The United States has been reduced to the equivalent of a third-world nation, the difference being that instead of foreign debt and ownership being the hobbling burdens, it is the promises made and bills come due of previous generations. Scary but realistic enough to leave one with a sense that perhaps it won't take as many as nineteen years for many of Brooks' fears to come true. Some passages may even evoke a sense of having actually happened to someone - a friend's cousin or a cousin's friend.
The story Brooks' tells in "2030" entertains as it warns and, with each day's headlines as reinforcements, will occupy readers' imaginations long after they've finished it.
2030 is about America in, you guessed it, the year 2030. Cancer has been cured. There is a pill for obesity. Everyone is living much, much longer. This is all well and good for the people who should be dead by now, but what about the people supporting them? Sure, you can keep upping the retirement age, but how much will that really help?
Many young people are starting to resent the older people, especially when they are incurring insurmountable debts to keep them alive. Add to that a horrible earthquake, and America's debt becomes impossible to fix.
This book starts pretty interesting and keeps the pace throughout the majority of it. There are a whole slew of characters who all seem to have nothing connecting them. I kinda figured from the beginning that they would all tie together in the end, but the characters just kept coming. It was quite a way into the book before new characters weren't introduced every chapter. Maybe having so many characters to learn about helped keep the book flowing. Either way, it worked. Most of the characters weren't developed highly, but they were developed enough to let you know them. Almost everyone can find at least one "main character" to relate to in this book.
I did kind of think the ending fizzled out a bit. I expected more to happen, but I wasn't highly disappointed. The book as a whole was very interesting and entertaining, and it really made me think. It opens up a world of discussions about the very realistic possibility of these events taking place in our future.
Many young people are starting to resent the older people, especially when they are incurring insurmountable debts to keep them alive. Add to that a horrible earthquake, and America's debt becomes impossible to fix.
This book starts pretty interesting and keeps the pace throughout the majority of it. There are a whole slew of characters who all seem to have nothing connecting them. I kinda figured from the beginning that they would all tie together in the end, but the characters just kept coming. It was quite a way into the book before new characters weren't introduced every chapter. Maybe having so many characters to learn about helped keep the book flowing. Either way, it worked. Most of the characters weren't developed highly, but they were developed enough to let you know them. Almost everyone can find at least one "main character" to relate to in this book.
I did kind of think the ending fizzled out a bit. I expected more to happen, but I wasn't highly disappointed. The book as a whole was very interesting and entertaining, and it really made me think. It opens up a world of discussions about the very realistic possibility of these events taking place in our future.
Best Book I Read in the Last 365 Days
I was going to say best book I read this year, but it's only May. That's not fair. It's really stunning. I miss Vonnegut so much, and I had even started to miss that dark optimism while he was still alive, since it had started to fade. Albert Brooks delivers what I was missing.
I have to write a longer review, but since people are probably perusing trying to decide, I can tell you that it is required reading. It is funny, smart, and a sharp look at where we are as a country. It's all coming, and Mr. Brooks has a grasp on all of it.
I'm not going to get this right the first time, but here it is bare: this book is real literature. I read Murakami, Greene, David Mitchell and the rest. This is not a lightweight piece dashed off by a comedian (yes, I've read those, too). Does that sound condescending (that means "to talk down to")? I'm not taking the time to be clear and careful here, but you need to read the book. Letting Albert Brooks into literature was like letting Bob Dylan go electric. Now he's free and we can experience the entire range of his imagination.
I am looking forward to the next one. Until then I'll probably go re-read 2030.
I have to write a longer review, but since people are probably perusing trying to decide, I can tell you that it is required reading. It is funny, smart, and a sharp look at where we are as a country. It's all coming, and Mr. Brooks has a grasp on all of it.
I'm not going to get this right the first time, but here it is bare: this book is real literature. I read Murakami, Greene, David Mitchell and the rest. This is not a lightweight piece dashed off by a comedian (yes, I've read those, too). Does that sound condescending (that means "to talk down to")? I'm not taking the time to be clear and careful here, but you need to read the book. Letting Albert Brooks into literature was like letting Bob Dylan go electric. Now he's free and we can experience the entire range of his imagination.
I am looking forward to the next one. Until then I'll probably go re-read 2030.
You're reading this book and you're laughing and you're scared and you feel as if Albert Brooks was given a worm hole into the future and has come back and written about it. The characters are well drawn, my favorites being the president, Max Leonard, and Susanna Colbert. This is a highly entertaining and thoughtful book. It makes you wonder... if the future he describes doesn't happen, which one will?
Great new speculative fiction... Vonnegut-esque
"It's funny `cause it's true," can now be extrapolated to, "It's funny `cause it may come true." Albert Brook's brilliantly realized new novel 2030: The Real Story of What Happens To America, is a page-turner with great vision. Brook's uses the unique narrative technique of writing a futuristic novel from the "historical" perspective of twenty years hence, and the result is darkly comic as well as highly unnerving speculative fiction. I was often reminded of Kurt Vonnegut while reading 2030 as that author too could thoroughly absorb you in a chilling alternative universe and make you laugh out loud while doing it.
Politicians often say that "we're mortgaging our children's future with our debt." In 2030 Brooks makes that dry, abstract statement come to life by weaving a grand tale in a richly imagined landscape that, dire as much of it is, is also compelling fun. With cancer cured, people are living to extreme old age - vibrant, active, and sexy well into their 80's and beyond. But, that ain't cheap and much of our government spending goes towards paying for it. Who gets the short end? The young, who aren't happy about it - maybe unhappy enough to start a new revolution?
Natural disasters haven't been solved either, and when a 9.1 earthquake levels Los Angeles to rubble, the new Southern California lifestyle becomes tent cities and temp structures. The Federal government, more specifically the Administration of President Matthew Bernstein, our first Jewish president, struggles to come to the aid of LA, but the cash-strapped government can't do much until China proposes an unthinkable solution - or is it unthinkable? On this journey we meet a large cast of distinct characters with sub-plots that are funny, unsettling, but above all relatable. I miss Kurt Vonnegut, but it looks like Albert Brooks has come along just in time.
Politicians often say that "we're mortgaging our children's future with our debt." In 2030 Brooks makes that dry, abstract statement come to life by weaving a grand tale in a richly imagined landscape that, dire as much of it is, is also compelling fun. With cancer cured, people are living to extreme old age - vibrant, active, and sexy well into their 80's and beyond. But, that ain't cheap and much of our government spending goes towards paying for it. Who gets the short end? The young, who aren't happy about it - maybe unhappy enough to start a new revolution?
Natural disasters haven't been solved either, and when a 9.1 earthquake levels Los Angeles to rubble, the new Southern California lifestyle becomes tent cities and temp structures. The Federal government, more specifically the Administration of President Matthew Bernstein, our first Jewish president, struggles to come to the aid of LA, but the cash-strapped government can't do much until China proposes an unthinkable solution - or is it unthinkable? On this journey we meet a large cast of distinct characters with sub-plots that are funny, unsettling, but above all relatable. I miss Kurt Vonnegut, but it looks like Albert Brooks has come along just in time.
Hey I am an Albert Brooks fan like the rest of you. But this book is disappointing, unsophisticated, and reads like it was written by a smart alecky high school student. Honestly, I couldn't finish the book. I guess most folks here are easily amused. I'm not a curmudgeon by any means. But this book, at least for me, is a waste of time.
I was going to say that the book is surprisingly good. But I thought better of it because it should probably come as no surprise that Albert Brooks would have this kind of a novel in him. For decades he's been a keen observer of the human condition in all its uncomfortable nuances, and he's played it for laughs. Now he turns his powers of observation to the world at large, and comes up with a reasoned, intriguing, and entertaining guess as to where the country and the world will be in 20 years. And although there is humor in the book, and one can definitely hears Brooks' "voice" here and there, this comes off as the genuine article - not some ego-driven vanity project by a comedian who is best advised to keep their day job. If Brooks' prose is direct and uncomplicated, I consider that a plus. Kurt Vonnegut is the first precedent that came to my mind, and I consider that the highest possible compliment.
If I may fall back on a cliché, I found 2030 to be a real page turner. Whenever I did have to put it down, I was eager to get back to it. It was well-paced, I was invested in the characters, and curious to discover how everything would be resolved. By setting his narrative in the near-future, Brooks manages to take today's headlines and extend them into a time that some of us will live to see. And I'm guessing that as the next two decades roll by, we'll be able to check off many of his predictions as prescient or "visionary." But "thought-provoking" isn't enough to make me love a novel. I loved this one because it was simply entertaining as hell.
If I may fall back on a cliché, I found 2030 to be a real page turner. Whenever I did have to put it down, I was eager to get back to it. It was well-paced, I was invested in the characters, and curious to discover how everything would be resolved. By setting his narrative in the near-future, Brooks manages to take today's headlines and extend them into a time that some of us will live to see. And I'm guessing that as the next two decades roll by, we'll be able to check off many of his predictions as prescient or "visionary." But "thought-provoking" isn't enough to make me love a novel. I loved this one because it was simply entertaining as hell.
This book delivered on so many fronts--terrific characters, sweeping story, brilliant dialogue. And best of all, it's jam-packed with ideas. Ideas about the future. Ideas about human nature. It's both thought-provoking and entertaining. I highly recommend you buy a copy for yourself, but also buy one for a friend because you'll definitely want someone to discuss it with.
I read this book over three nights and just fell in love with it. Sometimes you read something that encapsulates all the stuff you think about yourself. That was my experience here. I truly believe this is the most realistic portrait of the future I have yet to read. And it may not be the future we dream about, but maybe by thinking about it in the way this author has done will lead to something better. Maybe not, but this book will stay with you nonetheless.
Well to start I'm a senior in high school, and have only recently gotten into the book scene. I started with The Cat's Cradle, moved onto The Color Purple, and then picked up Stephen King's The Stand. Of course the list of books I've read is too large for this review (and too boring), but I like to think I've branched out a bit.
This book reminds me very much of Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron in the way things are so drastic, but treated like "whatever". The way Mr. Brooks introduces and advances his characters is very Stephen Kingy. Everything this book is reminds of something I've read before, but at the same time it's (nearly) all new and very interesting. The story looks at things in ways I've never thought to, and it introduces problems ordinary folks would overlook (like how curing cancer leads to an unbearably large population of old people).
Overall, this book is fantastic and I'm glad I read it. The future is an interesting thing, and this is only one way to look at it. That's what makes the whole future thing so mesmerizing.
This book reminds me very much of Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron in the way things are so drastic, but treated like "whatever". The way Mr. Brooks introduces and advances his characters is very Stephen Kingy. Everything this book is reminds of something I've read before, but at the same time it's (nearly) all new and very interesting. The story looks at things in ways I've never thought to, and it introduces problems ordinary folks would overlook (like how curing cancer leads to an unbearably large population of old people).
Overall, this book is fantastic and I'm glad I read it. The future is an interesting thing, and this is only one way to look at it. That's what makes the whole future thing so mesmerizing.
Funny man. Almost funny book. Which, considering its subject, is very funny.
When last we left Albert Brooks, we thought we had a pretty good idea of his range.
He wrote and directed and starred in his own movies.
He had plum roles in the films of other directors.
He was an occasional voice on "The Simpsons."
And, for the little ones, he was the overprotective father in a classic Pixar feature, "Finding Nemo."
Throughout, we knew him as the Jewish wit who was ever so much more appealing than Woody Allen. That is, he wasn't, like Woody, generically neurotic, he was neurotic to a point. He had some ideas about life in America that expressed what Woody religiously avoids: a smart political and moral point-of-view. Unlike Woody, he seemed to have genuine affection for other people --- in a Brooks movie, his biggest problem is himself. And so, although he has often seemed too bright and too sensitive for his own good, he has never seemed too arrogant; in almost any situation, you want him to win.
Don't know Albert Brooks? Haven't seen "Taxi Driver," "Private Benjamin" or "Broadcast News?" His Vanity Fair "Proust Questionnaire" says it all, in short form. Sample:
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Not sure what happiness means. Need to look that up.
What is your most treasured possession
I own the No-Hope Diamond.
I like to think Albert Brooks is happy today. I'm not sure I am --- and I'm probably not the only writer who's suddenly ambivalent about this guy. Here's the problem: Albert Brooks has written a novel. And it got published. By a real publisher. Suddenly he's like the James Franco of comedy.
If his book sucked, no problem. But it's hard not to like "Twenty Thirty: The Real Story of What Happened to America."Brooks writes well, with wit and imagination. And for those of us who graduated from science fiction soon after puberty, his "futuristic" novel is anything but. Let Brooks explain: "I've always enjoyed stories that take place in the future, but my one disappointment was that the future books described never came. We're not on other planets, there are no flying cars, and the only robots we have in our homes just sweep the floor. So I wanted to write about a future that I thought could really happen."
At first, this future even looks good. There's a pill that makes you thin. Cancer's been cured. (In 2014. Mark your calendar.) At 80, you can be more photogenic than your parents were at 40 --- how you look is simply a function of what you can afford. Car accidents? These cars drive themselves. Just as jets don't really need pilots.
But the world is a closed system. More old people who have all their vitality don't willingly step aside to let the young have their turn --- the young are the first generation to have it worse than their parents. (Sound familiar?) Social services cost a fortune; the national debt is so huge that there's really no other political issue. (Brooks: "Money makes the world go 'round and death stops it in its tracks.") And did I say, in this amazing future, that President Matthew Bernstein is Jewish? Okay: half. (Take your vitamins. It could happen.)
What is real? What is virtual? Who cares about the difference? That's the sort of question Albert Brooks can really get into. That, and who's committing acts of terrorism --- like boarding a bus on its way to an Indian casino, sparing 18 young people but shooting a dozen passengers over 40.
But then comes a problem big enough to drive a novel: a 9.1 earthquake that levels Los Angeles. Fifty thousand dead on the first day. No hospitals capable of helping the injured survivors. Insurance companies declare bankruptcy. The government should step in, but government is broke.
Now the novel moves into high gear. Will America quietly adopt...mercy killing? Can the new Secretary of the Treasury figure out a way to borrow another $20 trillion from the Chinese? And, on the ground, what happens to people who are homeless --- and, seemingly, condemned to be so for years?
The answers are smart, surprising, pointed. Here's more Brooks, commenting on the pre-fab homes for Los Angeles, arriving from --- where else? --- Asia: "The same reason Jews bought Volkswagens was the same reason the Chinese were now partners in the greatest construction project the world had ever seen. People wanted it done quickly, and at a low price, and that was the way it was always going to be. It started with cars, went to food and clothing, and now it was the very places they were going to live and work. Resistance was not just futile, it was gone."
This isn't an Orwellian future; Orwell had no sense of humor. (His biggest joke in "1984" is that it's a flip on 1948, the year the novel was published.) "Twenty Thirty," as futuristic fiction goes, is first cousin to a Kurt Vonnegut novel --- terrible things happen, but we can still make jokes.
Do you dare to dream of a happy ending? Brooks thinks he has written a hopeful one. But then, consider the source.
He wrote and directed and starred in his own movies.
He had plum roles in the films of other directors.
He was an occasional voice on "The Simpsons."
And, for the little ones, he was the overprotective father in a classic Pixar feature, "Finding Nemo."
Throughout, we knew him as the Jewish wit who was ever so much more appealing than Woody Allen. That is, he wasn't, like Woody, generically neurotic, he was neurotic to a point. He had some ideas about life in America that expressed what Woody religiously avoids: a smart political and moral point-of-view. Unlike Woody, he seemed to have genuine affection for other people --- in a Brooks movie, his biggest problem is himself. And so, although he has often seemed too bright and too sensitive for his own good, he has never seemed too arrogant; in almost any situation, you want him to win.
Don't know Albert Brooks? Haven't seen "Taxi Driver," "Private Benjamin" or "Broadcast News?" His Vanity Fair "Proust Questionnaire" says it all, in short form. Sample:
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Not sure what happiness means. Need to look that up.
What is your most treasured possession
I own the No-Hope Diamond.
I like to think Albert Brooks is happy today. I'm not sure I am --- and I'm probably not the only writer who's suddenly ambivalent about this guy. Here's the problem: Albert Brooks has written a novel. And it got published. By a real publisher. Suddenly he's like the James Franco of comedy.
If his book sucked, no problem. But it's hard not to like "Twenty Thirty: The Real Story of What Happened to America."Brooks writes well, with wit and imagination. And for those of us who graduated from science fiction soon after puberty, his "futuristic" novel is anything but. Let Brooks explain: "I've always enjoyed stories that take place in the future, but my one disappointment was that the future books described never came. We're not on other planets, there are no flying cars, and the only robots we have in our homes just sweep the floor. So I wanted to write about a future that I thought could really happen."
At first, this future even looks good. There's a pill that makes you thin. Cancer's been cured. (In 2014. Mark your calendar.) At 80, you can be more photogenic than your parents were at 40 --- how you look is simply a function of what you can afford. Car accidents? These cars drive themselves. Just as jets don't really need pilots.
But the world is a closed system. More old people who have all their vitality don't willingly step aside to let the young have their turn --- the young are the first generation to have it worse than their parents. (Sound familiar?) Social services cost a fortune; the national debt is so huge that there's really no other political issue. (Brooks: "Money makes the world go 'round and death stops it in its tracks.") And did I say, in this amazing future, that President Matthew Bernstein is Jewish? Okay: half. (Take your vitamins. It could happen.)
What is real? What is virtual? Who cares about the difference? That's the sort of question Albert Brooks can really get into. That, and who's committing acts of terrorism --- like boarding a bus on its way to an Indian casino, sparing 18 young people but shooting a dozen passengers over 40.
But then comes a problem big enough to drive a novel: a 9.1 earthquake that levels Los Angeles. Fifty thousand dead on the first day. No hospitals capable of helping the injured survivors. Insurance companies declare bankruptcy. The government should step in, but government is broke.
Now the novel moves into high gear. Will America quietly adopt...mercy killing? Can the new Secretary of the Treasury figure out a way to borrow another $20 trillion from the Chinese? And, on the ground, what happens to people who are homeless --- and, seemingly, condemned to be so for years?
The answers are smart, surprising, pointed. Here's more Brooks, commenting on the pre-fab homes for Los Angeles, arriving from --- where else? --- Asia: "The same reason Jews bought Volkswagens was the same reason the Chinese were now partners in the greatest construction project the world had ever seen. People wanted it done quickly, and at a low price, and that was the way it was always going to be. It started with cars, went to food and clothing, and now it was the very places they were going to live and work. Resistance was not just futile, it was gone."
This isn't an Orwellian future; Orwell had no sense of humor. (His biggest joke in "1984" is that it's a flip on 1948, the year the novel was published.) "Twenty Thirty," as futuristic fiction goes, is first cousin to a Kurt Vonnegut novel --- terrible things happen, but we can still make jokes.
Do you dare to dream of a happy ending? Brooks thinks he has written a hopeful one. But then, consider the source.
Albert Brooks is a funny man. His writing reads like his movies. I bet I know which character he would play if this became a movies.
But he does highlight some of the most significant problems in our society. Problems which we argue about and do nothing. At least he makes us think and laugh. And get a little depressed.
But he does highlight some of the most significant problems in our society. Problems which we argue about and do nothing. At least he makes us think and laugh. And get a little depressed.
Who doesn't love Albert Brooks? Here he is in a completely new voice and it really works.
His frighteningly real view of the near future causes you to pause at every few pages and wonder if he's already been there.
His dialogue sections are classically "Albert" and few people own this wonderfully neurotic territory.
Most great screen writers cannot quite make the leap from screenplay to book form, but Brooks has jumped across this river in grand style.
If you've ever found yourself watching an Albert Brooks movie and wished you could grab it and take it home and stretch it out for a few days this is your chance. "2030" is a treat of the first order, and we can only hope Albert gets another idea this rich and does it again soon.
His frighteningly real view of the near future causes you to pause at every few pages and wonder if he's already been there.
His dialogue sections are classically "Albert" and few people own this wonderfully neurotic territory.
Most great screen writers cannot quite make the leap from screenplay to book form, but Brooks has jumped across this river in grand style.
If you've ever found yourself watching an Albert Brooks movie and wished you could grab it and take it home and stretch it out for a few days this is your chance. "2030" is a treat of the first order, and we can only hope Albert gets another idea this rich and does it again soon.
I just finished 2030 by Albert Brooks.
I have a new favorite novel.
I read some so so reviews and just can't believe that these people read the same novel.
Great story, characters and flow.
Bravo Mr Brooks!!!!
I have a new favorite novel.
I read some so so reviews and just can't believe that these people read the same novel.
Great story, characters and flow.
Bravo Mr Brooks!!!!
ONE OF THOSE YOU CAN'T PUT DOWN
Great ideas and great characters make for a great book. I absolutely loved this. No spoilers here, the less you know the better the read, but it is simply a wonderfully written book. And it scares the hell out of me.
I really enjoyed this -- If you are a fan of speculative fiction or alternative history, I think you will as well.
-- DaveBr
-- DaveBr
I just got my first Kindle last month as a gift and "2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America" was my first purchase for my new toy! While I have always been a fan of any film Albert Brooks has written or just starred in, I was not prepared to enjoy him as much as I do as an author! This book is insightful and clever with just enough of Mr. Brooks' sense of humor to keep all his film fans pleased by what he has penned.
As for my future,I have done the math and in 2030 I will be 71 years old and after reading this book I will be sure not to retire in my Los Angeles home. And perhaps not in this country.
Buy the book and see Mr. Brooks' vision for your future. You will not be sorry.
As for my future,I have done the math and in 2030 I will be 71 years old and after reading this book I will be sure not to retire in my Los Angeles home. And perhaps not in this country.
Buy the book and see Mr. Brooks' vision for your future. You will not be sorry.
Not as funny/comic as I expected, but still an intriguing piece of speculative fiction
I'm a pretty huge fan of Albert Brooks. I think he's one of those rare human beings who is just naturally, effortlessly funny - his speech, his conversations, his dialogue, his delivery, it all just kills me. His recently launched Twitter feed has been one of the most consistently funny feeds I've ever read. So when I found out he had written a book about the future, I was thrilled. Here was the man who had so perfectly captured America with Lost in America, who had created a wondrous and funny afterlife in Defending Your Life...how great would this be? Imagine my surprise when I found out that far from being a comedic novel, 2030 is essentially a piece of speculative fiction about where the country could be heading. "Not funny?" you say. "I keep hearing it's hilarious!" Look, I'm not saying there aren't some funny moments, but funny moments in a serious book do not make it into a comedy. And when a book is about America's crippling debt, groups of young people who hate senior citizens and plan on killing them, a devastating earthquake that flattens an American metropolis past any repair, massive overpopulation problems, and so on...no, it's not really all that funny, no matter what all these other Amazon reviewers say. And yet, nor is 2030 bad. In fact, it's pretty good. Brooks makes some nice observations about society and our trends, and it's to his credit that the book feels as honest and true as it does. No, as many have commented, the book never feels "important" enough or weighty enough to truly feel as though there's a heavy statement being made. But as he does in all of his movies, Brooks populates his book with fun characters, creates a world wholly recognizable and yet oddly askew, still has a nice ear for dialogue, and generally creates a nicely engaging read. 2030 won't change your life, but it's a winning debut for Brooks, and a sign that he's got more talent as a novelist than I might have expected. I'll be curious to see what comes next from him, and to see if he can shake off some of the minor problems here - an often inconsequential and meandering storyline, a few plot threads that could use trimming - to turn out something even better.
"2030": Tragic & Comic; Wise & Wonderful
Albert Brooks' 2030 is funny, prescient, a bit scary, more than a little sad, and layered with a creepy 1984 patina.
In the broadest sense, 2030 is about the young versus the olds. The grudging, angry, disenchanted young people resent the fact that they are the first generation of Americans who will never get a crack at the American dream. Instead they are stuck paying the bill--the ever-increasing interest on the national debt borrowed from China to finance US wars that only succeed in making the rich richer and alienating us from just about everybody.
And of course the young are also paying for the extravagantly costly health care and upkeep of 80-year-olds who look like 40-year-olds, thanks to medical miracles. Cancer and Alzheimer's have been cured and plastic surgery prevails so people can live forever. The young will never get a damned thing and they are pissed.
By 2023, "resentment gangs" roam the city. The "olds" play virtual golf because the young threaten them on the actual golf courses. But the Congress, bought and paid for as it is today, does nothing. Outside of the corporate community, in 2030, Congress's single biggest special interest group is the AARP.
The book's central characters are: The 80-year-old Brad Miller, bewildered, determined and still trying to figure it all out. Kathy Bernard, a smart and sensitive young lady who is saddled by hundreds of thousands of debt because her Dad missed two insurance payments. Matthew Bernstein, the country's first Jewish President. Max Leonard, wealthy, well-educated, drop-dead gorgeous (picture a blond Che Guevera) who moves from the idealistic to the sinister. Shen Li, a Chinese entrepreneur who creates a widely successful public-private medical venture in China and, in his spare time, saves Los Angeles. Sam Mueller, a medical entrepreneur who created a drug to cure cancer--uber-rich and uber-greedy. Walter Masters, a 2030 Kevorkian.
President Bernstein is a powerless figurehead and he knows it. The 2030 US plutocracy is the 2011 US plutocracy on steroids--Citizens United anyone?
With Brooks, nothing's sacred. He hits all the bases: our role in the Middle East; US military contractors supplying both sides in any given conflict; a cowed, indecisive and disinterested populace buying into the phony euthanasia debate fueled by Big Pharma, Bigger Medical Industry and Ginormous Insurance Companies.
Yeah, 2030 can be preachy. But it is filled with funny/wise lines:
"The pro-life movement only cares about the human while it's still in the mother. As soon as it's born, the pro-choice people have to take care of it."
The description of news: "A combination of professionals, amateurs, citizen gossip, pictures fed from billions of handheld devices." 2030, we're here!
Then there's that classic Brooks' humor. A passenger in Brad's car asks about the sexy female voice of the GPS:
"Can you f*** her?"
"You actually can, but that was another four grand. And you have to stick your d*** in the lighter."
The book is not without its problems. I know that jumping around in time is au courant, but in this book it is distracting and sometimes downright confusing.
And, in truth, Bernstein's character is "cardboardy"
as are a few of the other characters. And then there's Stephanie, the "lover" Bernstein sort of "has"--never did figure out what their relationship was.
Yeah, President Bernstein is flat and predictable. But it is still important to "hear" this character verbalize the key predicaments of the times in a novel that makes them believable and . . . inevitable.
What happens to Bernstein, Brad, Shen Li, Kathy and Max? I'll let you find out when you read this funny/serious and unnerving book.
In the broadest sense, 2030 is about the young versus the olds. The grudging, angry, disenchanted young people resent the fact that they are the first generation of Americans who will never get a crack at the American dream. Instead they are stuck paying the bill--the ever-increasing interest on the national debt borrowed from China to finance US wars that only succeed in making the rich richer and alienating us from just about everybody.
And of course the young are also paying for the extravagantly costly health care and upkeep of 80-year-olds who look like 40-year-olds, thanks to medical miracles. Cancer and Alzheimer's have been cured and plastic surgery prevails so people can live forever. The young will never get a damned thing and they are pissed.
By 2023, "resentment gangs" roam the city. The "olds" play virtual golf because the young threaten them on the actual golf courses. But the Congress, bought and paid for as it is today, does nothing. Outside of the corporate community, in 2030, Congress's single biggest special interest group is the AARP.
The book's central characters are: The 80-year-old Brad Miller, bewildered, determined and still trying to figure it all out. Kathy Bernard, a smart and sensitive young lady who is saddled by hundreds of thousands of debt because her Dad missed two insurance payments. Matthew Bernstein, the country's first Jewish President. Max Leonard, wealthy, well-educated, drop-dead gorgeous (picture a blond Che Guevera) who moves from the idealistic to the sinister. Shen Li, a Chinese entrepreneur who creates a widely successful public-private medical venture in China and, in his spare time, saves Los Angeles. Sam Mueller, a medical entrepreneur who created a drug to cure cancer--uber-rich and uber-greedy. Walter Masters, a 2030 Kevorkian.
President Bernstein is a powerless figurehead and he knows it. The 2030 US plutocracy is the 2011 US plutocracy on steroids--Citizens United anyone?
With Brooks, nothing's sacred. He hits all the bases: our role in the Middle East; US military contractors supplying both sides in any given conflict; a cowed, indecisive and disinterested populace buying into the phony euthanasia debate fueled by Big Pharma, Bigger Medical Industry and Ginormous Insurance Companies.
Yeah, 2030 can be preachy. But it is filled with funny/wise lines:
"The pro-life movement only cares about the human while it's still in the mother. As soon as it's born, the pro-choice people have to take care of it."
The description of news: "A combination of professionals, amateurs, citizen gossip, pictures fed from billions of handheld devices." 2030, we're here!
Then there's that classic Brooks' humor. A passenger in Brad's car asks about the sexy female voice of the GPS:
"Can you f*** her?"
"You actually can, but that was another four grand. And you have to stick your d*** in the lighter."
The book is not without its problems. I know that jumping around in time is au courant, but in this book it is distracting and sometimes downright confusing.
And, in truth, Bernstein's character is "cardboardy"
as are a few of the other characters. And then there's Stephanie, the "lover" Bernstein sort of "has"--never did figure out what their relationship was.
Yeah, President Bernstein is flat and predictable. But it is still important to "hear" this character verbalize the key predicaments of the times in a novel that makes them believable and . . . inevitable.
What happens to Bernstein, Brad, Shen Li, Kathy and Max? I'll let you find out when you read this funny/serious and unnerving book.
Pure Entertainment, Wonderfully Insightful, Incredibly Intelligent
Brooks creates a captivating, vivid world in "2030" - a world so recognizable that the concept seems eerily possible. Once you begin the journey you truly won't be able to put it down. This is a smart and addictive read. A Pure pleasure.
Fabulous writing, critical thinker, a look at the near future you haven't seen before.
This is a must read. Trust me.
This is a must read. Trust me.
Oh Boy...I am half way through and I am not sure where Albert Brooks is going with this. Is this a Tea Party Treatise ?
As I read I actually find myself hating the olds, and evnying China ?!?!?!
Most unsettling of all, this stuff sounds entirely plausible.
It is not only a good read it is (and I hate the expression) "food for thought."
Albert Brooks can be proud. In his way he is showing us just how stupid we are.
As I read I actually find myself hating the olds, and evnying China ?!?!?!
Most unsettling of all, this stuff sounds entirely plausible.
It is not only a good read it is (and I hate the expression) "food for thought."
Albert Brooks can be proud. In his way he is showing us just how stupid we are.
Twenty Thirty is a great page turner! By extrapolating into the future the issues that dominate our political debate, Mr Brooks manages to alight our imagination and make us laugh histerically at the same time.
I would recommend that my friends read it. I read it in one day (hey, it was a weekend). Easy to read, stays interesting throughout the whole story, interesting characters, a few plot twists. Shows us what could happen in 2030, and a few years beyond. Most events are very plausible, though at it's core it is still an entertaining story and a work of fiction.
The not so distant future doesn't look good!
This book knocked me out. It's so topical, (the economy, health care, natural disasters) so funny (in a very dark, cynical way) and so full of ideas that I couldn't put it down. In her New York Times review, Janet Maslin said it best, "With "2030" Mr. Brooks has made the nervy move of transposing his worrywart sensibility from film to book." Maslin continues, "Unlike the fantasy writer who foresees a gee-whiz future full of alluring gimmicks, Mr. Brooks has dreamed up escapism about problems we cannot escape."
One of my favorite moments is when the newly elected half Jewish president is briefed by the powers that be and he keeps asking to meet who's 'really' in charge.
Best book I've read all year. Who knew that comedian, filmmaker and actor Brooks was also a talented author?
One of my favorite moments is when the newly elected half Jewish president is briefed by the powers that be and he keeps asking to meet who's 'really' in charge.
Best book I've read all year. Who knew that comedian, filmmaker and actor Brooks was also a talented author?
A BRILLIANT VISION OF THE UNBRILLIANT FUTURE
Comedy fans know Albert Brooks as the funniest human alive. His stand-up routines from the 1970s are the ones that all others are measured against. His short films from the first season of "Saturday Night Live" are classics of the genre. His criminally underappreciated films -- especially "Real Life," "Modern Romance," "Lost in America," and "Defending Your Life" -- are among the funniest ever made. And now he has expanded into yet another arena with his first novel, "Twenty Thirty," a spectacularly imaginative and yet all-too-believable look at an America whose best days are not ahead of it. Bleak as his vision of the near-future is, the book is also frequently hilarious, filled with those offhand observations and pitch-perfect dialogue that will have his fans laughing out loud. And for those whose lives are the poorer for being unfamiliar with his stunning body of work, the book is still a gripping page-turner. I can't imagine anyone coming away disappointed. This is a BRILLIANT piece of work.
If this were "2030 by Joe Smith," it never would have been published
First off, I am a great fan of the films of Albert Brooks, and his "Defending Your Life" ranks among my all-time favorites. His movie dialogue is snappy and realistic; his characters are believable, flesh-and-blood people; and his screenplays show not only tremendous wit, but also insight and revelation. I eagerly awaited publication of "2030," and now find it hard to express just how tremendously disappointed I am. Clearly, a great screenwriter does not necessarily make a great novelist.
The book is sloppily written (and edited), with such sentences as "The first thing the Chinese needed to do was supply housing for its citizens" ("its" should be "their," the subject being "the Chinese" and not "China"). Brooks makes painfully repetitive and distracting overuse of the "but" sentence structure (as in, "This could have been a good book, but it was terribly written"): flip to any page and you'll see several sentences of this sort, with an occasional "however" thrown in for good measure. (When I'm reading something by Albert Brooks and I'm going to my Kindle search function to count the number of "buts" in the book, that's a bad sign.) The characters are utterly cardboard and one-dimensional, the dialogue flat and uninspired (the characters all speak with the same voice and say precisely what the plot requires them to say, no more, no less), and the exposition heavy-handed and amateurish. Worst of all for a Brooks fan, the book is simply not funny. Not at all. Ever.
I stayed with this till the end because I refused to let myself believe that Brooks wouldn't give me some kind of payoff, but there was none: it just ended. Truly, the book reads like a first attempt at a novel by a not-particularly-creative high-school student. I have no doubt that there are far more worthy efforts being rejected daily by publishers and that this one would have ended up quickly tossed in the "Reject" pile had it not had Albert Brooks' name attached. Now you'll have to excuse me, I'm going to put on my DVD of "Modern Romance" or "Lost in America" to remind myself why I ever liked this guy in the first place - and just how brilliant he can be.
The book is sloppily written (and edited), with such sentences as "The first thing the Chinese needed to do was supply housing for its citizens" ("its" should be "their," the subject being "the Chinese" and not "China"). Brooks makes painfully repetitive and distracting overuse of the "but" sentence structure (as in, "This could have been a good book, but it was terribly written"): flip to any page and you'll see several sentences of this sort, with an occasional "however" thrown in for good measure. (When I'm reading something by Albert Brooks and I'm going to my Kindle search function to count the number of "buts" in the book, that's a bad sign.) The characters are utterly cardboard and one-dimensional, the dialogue flat and uninspired (the characters all speak with the same voice and say precisely what the plot requires them to say, no more, no less), and the exposition heavy-handed and amateurish. Worst of all for a Brooks fan, the book is simply not funny. Not at all. Ever.
I stayed with this till the end because I refused to let myself believe that Brooks wouldn't give me some kind of payoff, but there was none: it just ended. Truly, the book reads like a first attempt at a novel by a not-particularly-creative high-school student. I have no doubt that there are far more worthy efforts being rejected daily by publishers and that this one would have ended up quickly tossed in the "Reject" pile had it not had Albert Brooks' name attached. Now you'll have to excuse me, I'm going to put on my DVD of "Modern Romance" or "Lost in America" to remind myself why I ever liked this guy in the first place - and just how brilliant he can be.
I, too, saw Mr. Brooks on The Daily Show and have been a fan of his for a long time. I plunged into the book and waded through the exposition of who, what, where, when...and began to realize that there was no BANG to the buck I paid for the book. He had every opportunity to shock us and turn the story into a real "be careful what you wish for" style of story....but it plodded along - in an unsurprising fashion - and limped to the finish - with me saying "who cares".
I was tempted often to stop reading, but I was hoping for a heart stopping finale which never materialized.
The final "inaugural speech" at the end of the book was laughable considering that NOTHING will change people's hearts and minds a mere 19 years into the future. It would be nice, but not feasible.
It left me wondering what point the author was making. I thought about it for about 15 minutes while getting over the great disappointment I felt. Skip it and wait for the movie. I'm hoping, as movie makers do so often, they goose it up and do some major plot changes.
I was tempted often to stop reading, but I was hoping for a heart stopping finale which never materialized.
The final "inaugural speech" at the end of the book was laughable considering that NOTHING will change people's hearts and minds a mere 19 years into the future. It would be nice, but not feasible.
It left me wondering what point the author was making. I thought about it for about 15 minutes while getting over the great disappointment I felt. Skip it and wait for the movie. I'm hoping, as movie makers do so often, they goose it up and do some major plot changes.
A future, both plasible and disturbing!
2030 begins with a number of trends or concerns already in evidence, e.g., financial crisis, California earthquake China, antipathy towards seniors referred to as "olds" in the book, and projects them to an extreme and unexpected state. The result is both plausible and disturbing.
2030 has changed the way I see the presidential candidates for 2012. These leaders appear too small for the future we face. We need leaders capable of lubricating the friction between young and old, rich and poor, and racial and ethnic groups.
Its 375 pages organized into 57 short chapters made for a good read.
2030 has changed the way I see the presidential candidates for 2012. These leaders appear too small for the future we face. We need leaders capable of lubricating the friction between young and old, rich and poor, and racial and ethnic groups.
Its 375 pages organized into 57 short chapters made for a good read.
Best book I've read in years...
First off for the ill informed Albert Brooks is one of the astute writer/comedian filmmaker out there. You've seen his movies and liked them without probably knowing in. Defending your life is a Classic. So when i heard Albert Brooks released a book I was one of the firs tin line to purchase it. I was not disappointed. The Albert Brooks vision of America in 2030 is one only Mr. brooks himself could conjure up. ANd i'm gonna say this now, some of these things will likely happen. Nostradamus maybe not but a visionary of the Culture of america without question. Check out the movie Lost in America for the casino scene alone. Seriously. I am an avid reader and this one is one i will find myself reading many many times. There arent many writers who can satirize and make it feel like historical fact. If you want to read a very funny book and youre missing out on the future. well done Mr. Brooks.
I bought this book after seeing Albert Brooks on Jon Stewart. I was so excited to start reading it. Almost from the beginning I was surprised at how lame it was. Bad grammar (editor?), poor sentence structure, boring characters. Another reviewer said "lackluster" which really sums it up. A good storyline might make up for bad writing, but this book has doesn't have that either. I can't imagine any publisher taking on this book if the author wasn't Albert Brooks. I am surprised at so many good reviews. Maybe I'm reading a pre-edited copy.
I have nothing good to say about this book. I don't like or care about any of the characters--even the ones I feel I should have empathy for. Most of them seem to wander around complaining or be in a stupor about why things ended up so bad. I DO agree with Brooks' politics and if this was a humorous commentary on the right wing wandering around in a stupor wondering why there are only two classes --rich and poor, no health services in old age, no polar icecaps, no fuel, and no protection against capitalists peddling poisonous food and medicine with no consumer protection, I'd be thrilled! But this is not that book. In fact the main reason the earth is in trouble in 2030 seems to me to be the least plausible of any of the problems we face today, any of a long list of doomsday problems from which Brooks might have chosen.
I admit, I am only halfway through this book--came on to read some reviews to see if I should bother finishing it. My fellow 2-stars are telling me probably not. I'm giving it 2 stars instead of 1 for the simple fact that I have't put it down yet. It sure doesn't sound like its going to get any better. But like the characters, I'm really not expecting much.
I have nothing good to say about this book. I don't like or care about any of the characters--even the ones I feel I should have empathy for. Most of them seem to wander around complaining or be in a stupor about why things ended up so bad. I DO agree with Brooks' politics and if this was a humorous commentary on the right wing wandering around in a stupor wondering why there are only two classes --rich and poor, no health services in old age, no polar icecaps, no fuel, and no protection against capitalists peddling poisonous food and medicine with no consumer protection, I'd be thrilled! But this is not that book. In fact the main reason the earth is in trouble in 2030 seems to me to be the least plausible of any of the problems we face today, any of a long list of doomsday problems from which Brooks might have chosen.
I admit, I am only halfway through this book--came on to read some reviews to see if I should bother finishing it. My fellow 2-stars are telling me probably not. I'm giving it 2 stars instead of 1 for the simple fact that I have't put it down yet. It sure doesn't sound like its going to get any better. But like the characters, I'm really not expecting much.
I can only imagine what went thru Albert Brook's head when the Earthquake hit Japan at a Magnitude nobody ever thought would happen. Just as Mr Brooks did on the movie gem REAL LIFE, his vision is clear and seems likely. I loved this novel, cover to cover. The characters were deep and interesting. BRAVO Mr Brooks, NY Time Best Seller list on your maiden voyage!
Okay so I'm a big Albert Brooks fan and but, his book is even better than someone like me (a fan) expected. It is very funny, which is a good thing because it deals with the future and what could happen in America.
I've been slowly pacing myself through, savoring each chapter. It is so far one of the most entertaining and thought provoking books I've read in a long time.
Insider politics, romance, break ups, gay relationships, aging, youth, devastation and loss, international politics, world culture, diseases being cured and I haven't even finished it yet. I understand Amazon is back ordered but it's worth the wait!
2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America
I've been slowly pacing myself through, savoring each chapter. It is so far one of the most entertaining and thought provoking books I've read in a long time.
Insider politics, romance, break ups, gay relationships, aging, youth, devastation and loss, international politics, world culture, diseases being cured and I haven't even finished it yet. I understand Amazon is back ordered but it's worth the wait!
2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America
Fantastic Read! Buy it, you won't be disappointed.
I have read nearly every great dystopian novel and this ranks right up there. Expert writing style and innovative view of the future.
I read a review of this book in The New York Times and downloaded on Kindle. I usually read 30-50 pages a night but I finished this book in two evenings because the writing has an easy and very entertaining style. Enough people have said what this book is about so I don't need to repeat that, but this is the first review I have left for a book since buying the Kindle and I highly recommend it. Both the Kindle and this book. I look forward to more from this author.
Share your thoughts with other customers
Create your own review
Create your own review
This is a compactly written political novel with much serious commentary on what's wrong with 2011 and what the future might hold. There's some really bad news, too. Brooks is an expert at writing a scene that can ring true and yet have a sly joke in it. He is never tedious or preachy and you have plenty to think about once it's over. Brooks is a smart comic, too, and he doesn't let up in this novel. Remember the restaurant (all you can eat!) scene in "Defending Your Life"? That's been normalized in "2030" : a pill's on the market that makes weight gain impossible. Of course it's the most lucrative drug ever for its manufacturer. There are scores of such improvements upholstering and, in some cases, ravaging, the lives of the denizens of Brooks' future world. His tale is probably prescient and definitely clever, but not too much, and some of it is downright brilliant. No spoilers here.
The plot is straightforward with just enough twisting to keep you guessing. Chapters are brief, satisfying bites. There is a Meryl Streep character and very funny moments. Brooks has an eye and an ear for his readers so, for example, I was never bored and often delighted by his refreshing, get-to-the-point methods.
I read this in two sittings and found it to be wonderfully intelligent and fun. Highly recommended.