I tried really hard but I couldn't even finish it. I found it to be on the boring side. Had to give up after a week or so of trying.

Sometimes a reader and a novel just don't mesh.

This slow going look at millennial issues with the baby boomer generation did not work for me.

While I had no problem with the writing style itself, told from 3 perspectives, I never connected with the characters enough to care about them, or their relationships, and the music subplot fell flat for me.

Thank your St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 stars for me.

I was disappointed by this one - This was another one where I just didn't "get" it. While the characters were intertwined, there was still a disconnect between them and what I thought was the plot line. I felt like there was a lot of information provided that didn't really relate to the overall story. I enjoyed Cassie's character, but really didn't connect with Mark or Julia. There was potential here; the concept was interesting and could have provided a great opportunity to explore some hard societal questions, but it was overall pretty superficial. There just wasn't enough depth to the story to wow me.

I received an email from the publisher with a link to download this title, which is much appreciated. I thought it was well-written and the characters were fleshed out, for the most part. Unfortunately, I did not really care for the book., as I could not relate to all music references throughout the first part of the book and did not connect to any of the characters. I'm sure this book will have its audience, but it wasn't for me.

I simply dislike this book. Not the writing style, necessarily, but the content leaves me cold. I have no sympathy for the viewpoint and indeed find it impossible to care

I enjoyed this a lot - just finished it now - at 3am- with no idea where it was headed.
Mark - Cassie - Julia - each have a voice in this fascinating- relevant and frightening look at people ‘my age’ - 60’s retirement age -
and my daughter’s age - mid 30’s -
and the contribution our grandparents made who came from the War—

It’s a terrific book ....lots to engage in — great storytelling. Themes - locations and daily life for these folks are tied together brilliantly:
- Jobs-
- who has them?
- who doesn’t?
- social security?
- insecurity?
- Education/ music/ girlband/ bandmates/ roommates/ lovers/relationships/success/ failure/ personal self worth/disappointments/ fear/ depression & loneliness/ hearing loss/ a marriage proposal turned down/ educated adult moving back home in parents basement/ East Coast..New York City/ West Coast... San Francisco...
...More surprises... with great characters to spend time with!!!!

This is a wonderful - very well written enjoyable novel. I must read Daniel Torday’s first novel. I have a copy of the hardcopy - and will look forward to it now for sure.

Highly recommended!

Thank you St. Martin’s Press, Netgalley, and Daniel Torday! (Love the feeling of intimacy in your writing)

Today a college friend sent a screenshot on our ‘College Dude’ thread of his music app playing Daft Punk’s Around the World, one of our favorite songs from our days of drinking Natural Light. My ten friends on the thread live all across the country and work in a myriad of professions. We graduated from a West-Coast liberal arts college twenty years ago, and as a baby boomer, my father graduated from college twenty-five years prior. I was reading this book while I got the text, and it got me thinking about my friends, and what our challenges have been and will be compared to the prior generations: medicare, social security, global job markets, tech-changing industries… the list goes on.

Daniel Torday’s distinctly current novel Boomer1 focuses on characters who like some of my friends are trying and failing to find success in traditional American ventures in the new millenium. Torday switches the point of view between three main characters. From music to marriage to journalism, Mark tries to find success in New York City, but either the game has changed or there just isn’t room for him in a narrowing profession. Cassie joins a punk band only to have them split on her, but finds a friend and bandmate in bluegrass-playing Mark. And Mark’s mom Julia was once a burgeoning member of the 1960s counterculture music scene, but fell into a life she never thought she’d have.

As the story moves forward, Cassie is able to find success in the new journalism scene putting together “advertorials,” but Mark fully rejects his NYC life and moves back into the basement of his boyhood home. His anger metamorphosizes into an online alter ego by the name of Isaac Abramson and the handle Boomer1. He produces “Boomer Missives,” which spurs a movement of anarchy in the face of the generation who took the spoils of the post-war boom. With his infamy, Mark wonders what he has unleashed as he experiences the freedom of the anonymity of the internet.

Torday’s novel speaks directly to a certain audience; the music and cultural references that are nostalgic, but not overly sentimental. While the novel may have a slow start, the narrative hits its stride after a couple chapters, and the last hundred pages hold some of the best writing I’ve read all year. There were some problems with inconsistent language, which can even be slightly inflated at times. I assume this was an effort to vary the different character’s points of views, but it came across as unbalanced. The multiple points of view work well, especially when they slightly overlap and the reader experiences the same plot points through a different lense.

Daniel Torday’s Boomer1 is a very good novel that focuses on what people do to maintain relationships and to stick to their ideals, even in the face of hypocrisy. Even with some flaws, Torday’s ideas are genuine and hold important questions for the current generation. I enjoyed Boomer1 and will definitely recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Daniel Torday for the advanced copy for review.

This book was not for me. I just could not get into the book. But thanks to Net Galley for the advance reader copy.

As one of the culpable Baby Boomers described in this story, I really enjoyed this book about the frustrations and trials for the millennial left in our wake. Always a subject worth debating that no one ever wins.
Mark tries so hard to succeed but fails miserably and embarrassingly at every turn. His friend (wish girlfriend) Cassie, on the other hand, is wildly successful in any venture she makes a small effort with. The perspective of Mark’s mother, Julia, adds another dimension to the personalities and perspectives.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can understand some, but not all of the frustration detailed in the lives of the youth.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for making it available.)

This novel just did not speak to me. I saw the satire and the multiple POVs had some potential. But, ultimately, the characters just did not pull me in and I found that I really didn’t much care what happened to them.

Wow. I didn't know what to expect, but this novel was intense. You could feel the frustration of the Boomer Boomers in Mark's sections. Very interesting take on the millennial vs. baby boomer generations. Definitely an interesting read that makes you think.

I gave up on this after a few pages. The writing style didn't work for me.