Boomer1: A Novel

“Torday is a singular American writer with a big heart and a real love for the world. He has the rare gift for writing dynamic action scenes while being genuinely funny.”—George Saunders

A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year

One of The Millions’ Most Anticipated Books of 2018

Vulture.com’s Best New Books of Fall 2018

One of Entertainment Weekly's 20 Books to Read in September

Philadelphia Inquirer’s Best Books of the Fall

Mark Brumfield seems to have his life on track: a job in New York media, a side gig in a Bluegrass band, a Ph.D. in English, and a sharp-eyed, street-savvy girlfriend—Cassie Black—he wants to marry. 

But when he’s laid off, mired in debt with a useless advanced degree, Mark moves back to his parents’ basement in Baltimore. There, under the pseudonym Boomer1, wearing a David Crosby mask with an iconic poster of Jerry Garcia as his backdrop, he begins recording video rants against the baby-boomer strangle-hold on jobs in the winner-take-all economy.

Meanwhile, Mark’s mother, Julia, a former folk musician who once played the legendary Filmore East in the 1960s, wonders how to help her troubled son, and Cassie begins a surprising career at a startup whose business model is a mystery. But as Mark’s videos begin to find followers—at first hundreds, then thousands, then going viral—what began as a lonely crusade becomes much, much more.

Told through the perspectives of Mark, Cassie, and Julia, scored with music and driven by powerful, perpetually surveilling technology, Boomer1 dramatically explores the fault lines that divide America today.

“Wry . . . Reads as contemporary satire with Shakespearean echoes.”—The New York TimesBook Review

“Boomer1 is a sharp, bright, and often amusing snapshot of this unwieldy economic moment.”—The Wall Street Journal

“Boomer1’s knowing take on identity politics and generational turmoil will make many people smile. The novel is artfully written and worth reading.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer