Boomer1

In his provocative second novel (after The Last Flight of Poxl West), Torday takes the idea of generational warfare a step further. When 31-year-old Mark Brumfeld—overeducated, underemployed, and freshly rejected by his bandmate and would-be fiancée Cassie—moves back to his parents' house in Baltimore to lick his wounds, he channels his frustration into a series of furious "Boomer Missives" under the moniker Boomer1, replete with meme-ready calls to action: "Boom boom." "Retire or we'll retire you." "Resist much, obey little." Soon Mark's rants spawn copycats who turn his catchphrases into tangible action, manipulating American media and threatening retaliation. As the story moves toward a violent climax, Mark's ex-girlfriend Cassie, who has begun a lucrative career in new media, and his mother, Julia, a product of the 1960s with her own history of rebellion, both struggle to reconcile their sympathies with his beliefs with the true damage his videos have wrought.