2030 - Albert Brooks

A challenge in reading a book by an author who is famous for other things is that you are predisposed to view the book through a lens clouded by the author's fame. In non-fiction and autobiography, this isn't much of an issue - the reason why are you reading the book is usually based on who the person is. With non-fiction, this gets a bit trickier.

Since he is famous of acting and directing, I was expecting more of a Vonnegut, black humour style tale of the future. There are elements of that in this, but it's mostly a straight up story about what happens to the US in 2030, after a massive earthquake destroys Los Angeles. It takes time to get where it's going - the characters are set up with lots of background, the plot is put in motion - but it comes together at the end. An ending that seems entirely probably under the circumstances, and one that seems devoid any political influence.  One thing that did stand out - the lack of the role technology plays in this future, particularly the Internet. There is an Internet, but no one in 2030 seems to have an iphone or spend their time online - it's a future Internet that could have been written in the late '90's. (Which stands in contrast to Super Sad Love Story)