I breezed through this 2011 science fiction novel by Drew Magary, the long-time columnist from Deadspin, the sports blog. I was not familiar with Deadspin or Magary before finding this book in my digital Michigan library. His career combines humor, politics, and love of sports and I am surprised I was not familiar with his work.
The premise of the book is that a cure for aging has been found. People have a “cure age”, the age they received the vector to stop aging, and their chronological age. The format is like Albert Brooks’ World War Z, a combination of news reports, diary entries, etc., which I liked. It is a dystopian story with overpopulation and climate degradation creating a post-apocalyptic world.
The book forced me to think about my own mortality. With all the time in the world, people started viewing their lives differently. For example, the “cyclic marriage”. Couples would commit to a 20-year marriage, long enough to have children and then with eternal youth, find another partner, family and wife. In a non-Post Mortal world, we don’t have that option. Nadia and I have been together since 1997 and married since 1999 and are growing old together. The last of our three children is going off to university next year. We are happy in our marriage and plan to stay together as we eventually retire and look forward to more free time and caring for our grandchildren. Magary’s book asks the question what we would do if we were not aging. What comes after grandchildren? Another partner and family? Another career? It reinforced the idea that every generation has its moment and it might be good for humanity to move out of the way for the next generation.
How long is sufficient for a life well lived? I am trying to maximize my active years through diet, exercise, relationships, and good medical care. Will I get bored in this life? Would I get bored after 2 or 3 normal lifetimes? I can relate to people who are ready to die, especially if their loved ones are gone or they are facing health issues.
Magary wrote an interesting book that was entertaining and insightful. That is good science fiction.
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