• 2030

  • The Real Story of What Happens to America
  • By: Albert Brooks
  • Narrated by: Dick Hill
  • Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
  • 3.7 out of 5 stars (293 ratings)

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2030  By  cover art

2030

By: Albert Brooks
Narrated by: Dick Hill
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Editorial reviews

Everybody knows Albert Brooks. He's been at the forefront of comedy, film, and television since the late '60s. From Taxi Driver to The Simpsons Movie, from Saturday Night Live to Weeds, Brooks continues to roll with the times and prove himself to new generations of fans. It's almost unbelievable that he waited so long to try writing a book, and that the book isn't just a memoir. Instead, with 2030, Brooks is sticking to what he does best: envisioning the future with his keenly funny and often self-deprecating liberal, Jewish, show-biz eye. That's not a stereotype; that's the genre that Brooks perfected.

It may seem like a bit of a mystery as to why Brooks chose to call in another pro to do the narration, but Dick Hill is unquestionably the right man for the job. With over 300 audiobooks under his belt, three Audies and dozens of Earphone Awards to his credit, there's no voice Hill can't handle. He manages to make Brooks' didactic sense of humor crystal clear without stooping to a simple imitation of the way Brooks sounds. Hill adds significant depth and a bit of empathy to characters that are meant more as placeholders for the unfurling crisis than as literary gems, contributing an important dimension to the experience of the novel with which Brooks' more than ample screenwriting talent is perhaps not entirely acquainted.

This book is meant to showcase large dreams, but it isn't a dystopian novel. It describes a world where the big one has finally shaken the author's beloved Los Angeles into a state of emergency too big for the government to solve alone. The president is forced to partner with China to rebuild, and although there are a dozen characters' intersecting lives to sift though, the interesting thing about the book is really just Brooks' analysis of our future history between now and 2030. A left-wing cautionary tale that does not forsake the limits of scientific or economic plausibility, this is a refreshing new direction for Brooks that gains a terrific assist from Dick Hill's masterful character study. Megan Volpert

Publisher's summary

Is this what's in store? June 12, 2030, started out like any other day in memory---and by then, memories were long. Since cancer had been cured fifteen years before, America's population was aging rapidly. That sounds like good news, but consider this: millions of baby boomers, with a big natural predator picked off, were sucking dry benefits and resources that were never meant to hold them into their eighties and beyond. Young people around the country simmered with resentment toward "the olds" and anger at the treadmill they could never get off of just to maintain their parents' entitlement programs. But on that June 12th, everything changed: a massive earthquake devastated Los Angeles, and the government, always teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, was unable to respond. The fallout from the earthquake sets in motion a sweeping novel of ideas that pits national hope for the future against assurances from the past and is peopled by a memorable cast of refugees and billionaires, presidents and revolutionaries, all struggling to find their way. In 2030, the author's all-too-believable imagining of where today's challenges could lead us tomorrow makes for gripping and thought-provoking listening.
©2011 Albert Brooks (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"This is an intriguing vision of America's future. Recommended for fans of futuristic dystopian fiction." ( Library Journal)

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What listeners say about 2030

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A strange story, and possibly some validity to it.

An odd mingling of low brow comedy, frightening prophesy and condemnation of the American system, (probably well deserved) I don't think any of us can foretell the future, and whatever really happens will be a big surprise to us all. However, it's fun to read this authors vision. The narrator is really a "kick".

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Had potential but becomes uber lefty preach-a-thon

Keep in mind I only got half way through it but that was all I could take. perhaps it got better (It could have happened, I guess) Well narrated, some interesting ideas, but what starts as a one sided world view perspective devolved into a slanted theme and then later just became so deeply rooted in ideological presumptions to the point where it stopped being an interesting story. Not for me.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Who knew?

Thrilled with this book. I never knew that he was an author, and a great one at that!
Imaginative, thought provoking, very creative and well written. Thank you Mr. Brooks.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Strange Reviews

characterizing this a not being Dystopian or as "left wing" or "liberal" when it presents a case for ending Social Security and Medicare if not euthanasia
There is too much truth in the possibility of a cataclysmic earthquake disaster in LA pushing the US into total collapse under the weight of an aging population already suffering under trillions in W's war debts and the current recession with high unemployment. Why shouldn't the young hold a grudge against "the greatest generation"? Why would they want to continue to pay for what the retirees believe they have earned?
This isn't a perfect book and there is nothing funny about it but it does provide some food for thought about next year or 2030 when the US is incapable of continuing to pay out the Social Security checks that retirees depend upon because we suffered the Wall Street Meltdown, the redistribution of the wealth from the middle class to the ultra-wealthy since Reagan, and disasters like Katrina.
Once we start to really feel the down slope following Peak Oil exacerbated by emerging fuel consumption from China and India, the climate change accelerated by all that burning carbon, and a more complete collapse of our financial system in the USA things could get much worse than this 2030 predicts. We can hope those who think this way are wrong but what if they are right???

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • JB
  • 06-29-11

The topic has potential, but....

...this book does not really take advantange of the potential of this topic: The U.S. is buried under a mountain of Chinese debt, and then experinences a massive natural disaster and has to try to rebuild with no money.

The characters are uninspiring and I had a hard time caring about what happended to them next.

The narration is fine, in fact, I think it makes sense to have older narrator since so much of this book deals with the challenge of the country dealing with a huge, older population.

But in terms of plot, characters, pacing, or creativity this book falls short.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Albert Brooks/ Dick Hill?!?

I got about 10 mins in and am now looking for ways to see if I can get a refund or maybe at least a swap to print since Amazon owns Aud now. Dick needs to retire. I didn't even look at the narrator when I bought because no human who has any experience here would expect Dick Hill to read Albert Brooks. I am truly happy that Albert is doing so well that he has NO clue who is reading his book. I am sad that I'll probably not hear or read it. I am blessed that I can throw away a credit. Sorry Dick...it's time to STFU. Albert ...Write on!

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Eerily predictive

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

The ending was a bit....sudden.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Definitely made me laugh AND cry a bit. The major motivating factor for the plot of the book is a natural disaster in one of America's largest cities, and the day after I started listening, superstorm Sandy hit New York. I kept waiting for Obama to call China to bail the subways out.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Where is the humor?

I was disappointed. I thought it would have some humor but it was very pessimistic.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

It’s ok, but not amazing

This book does a good job of guessing at some things we may see in 20 years, it does it with a very weak story. Narration was very well done.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Don???t waste your time???

unless you want to listen to left-wing dribble. Very disappointed. How do I ask for a refund?

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2 people found this helpful