- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Abacus; paperback / softback edition (12 April 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0349115982
- ISBN-13: 978-0349115986
- Product Dimensions: 23 x 15.2 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,069,828 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
'Bubblegum pop-future comedy in which corporations go to war like feudal fiefdoms . Barry has a quick wit and a light touch . It's CATCH 22 by way of THE MATRIX.' KIRKUS ** 'Brilliant & hilarious.' - Naomi Klein, author NO LOGO
TIME MAGAZINE
'Extremely funny ... Barry is a smart writer with a Cassandra’s gift for dark-edged prognostication'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
George Orwell for the 21st Century,
By
This review is from: Jennifer Government (Paperback)
Barry's tale is a brave work of fiction, examining a world where the corporations are more powerful than the government or the family, and where if you have enough power and influence you can get away with murder.It's a quick read and easy to digest, but it gives a lot to think about. Is this really a direction the world is turning in, where children go to McDonalds schools and employees change their names as they move between corporations? The plot is simple but follows a number of different characters as they find their lives woven together through the book. Definitely worth a read, and bound to become a very talked about book.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Bravely embraces the ridiculous along with the scarily plaus,
By Semioticghost "Semioticghost" (London, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Jennifer Government (Paperback)
Set in a world ruled by corporations more than the increasingly powerless government, everybody takes on the name of the organisation they serve. Jennifer Goverment, the eponymous heroine, valiantly struggles to do The Right Thing while working to exact a spot of revenge on her ex, John Nike. The National Rifle Association and the Police provide the firepower for a no-holds-barred competition between the only two Customer Loyalty Programmes left in existence after cross-industry mergers and things get ugly. Corporate politics, a real killer marketing campaign for the latest pair of trainers and some hapless idiots add light relief to the plot which bravely embraces the ridiculous along with the scarily plausible.
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Max Potboiler,
By John Self "www.theasylum.wordpress.com" (Belfast, NI) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Jennifer Government (Paperback)
By page 20 of Jennifer Government, I was bitter with envy - why didn't I write this book with all these great ideas? He's the same age as me after all... From the central conceit that the USA has taken over (in a business rather than military sense) almost every other Western country, through the notion that people will be named after their employers in such a capitalizt (sic) future, to the idea of marketing trainers by shooting teens who wear them, to make them seem more desirable - Max Barry just has originality to burn. Even the rhythmically pleasing title had me drumming my heels in merriment.By page 70 I was looking askance over my shoulder, blushing with embarrassment for the fellow. Full of all these ideas and he can't write for toffee! Goodness me, on a sentence by sentence level this book really is terrible. It started when I got the feeling Barry wanted us to feel emotional at the murder of a teenager, who up until then had been just a selfish spoiled idiot designed purely to make a satirical point. And as the book goes on, it becomes clearer that he does want us to take these characters to heart, even though they're pure cartoons. And the reviewer below who thinks it will make a great film clearly thinks like Barry - it quickly becomes pure Hollywood, with action sequences interspersed with 'character' 'development' and people saying things (I can hardly believe it) like "Goddamnit, Jennifer Government, there may be hope for you yet" with a straight face, and people narrowly escaping death by blazing gunfire then saying quietly to themselves, "Hot damn." And this is a real shame. Rarely enough, a great conceit comes along and the creator has the intelligence and wit to take it to its logical (or illogical) conclusion - think Being John Malkovich. But Jennifer Government, which could have been a satirical Philip K. Dick, is just a bog-standard thriller with a dystopian front-end. Those who like their books fast-paced and cinematic will probably love it; those of a more literary bent, look away now. There's nothing to see here.
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