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Syrup
 
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Syrup (Paperback)

by Max Barry (Author), Maxx Barry (Author)
4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
US List Price: $15.00
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Product details

  • Paperback: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin Books; Reissue edition (Jul 2000)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0140291873
  • ISBN-13: 978-0140291872
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.7 x 1.5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 40,759 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

18 Reviews
5 star:
 (17)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.9 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An Overnight Sensation!, 2 Jun 2004
By prisrob "pris," (New EnglandUSA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)      
Maxx Barry, author of "Syrup" has written a brilliant, satirical novel of marketing. Maxx or Max ( he added an extra "x" to make his name look more worldly) was a teacher of marketing back in Australia. He used to work for Hewlett Packard, and he has imagined life in the US-he has never visited us.

Scat, also know as Micahel George Holloway, wants to be famous. He could be an actor, but he can't act. He does have one option: he can be very young, very cool, and very, very rich. This line of fame is open to everyone. All he has to do is find something he is so good at that he can make a million dollars by the time he is twenty-five.

Scat has read somewhere "that the average adult has three million-dollar ideas per year. Ideas are cheap, what you need is the conviction to follow through!" Scat's life started at ten past two in the morning of January 7th. He got THE IDEA.

Scat developed the idea for a new cola drink with a name so smooth all the "x" generation would drink it up. Scat got the inside scoop and developed a meeting with a representative of a cola company. The rep who's name is 6, was quite interested and brought Scat into the company. Unfortunately, someone stole the idea and Scat and 6 are left to reclaim their careers. Scat and 6 have energy, imagination, ambition and just enough of a work ethic to follow through. The novel follows their paths as they heed the underhandedness of the Black Hats.

The brilliance of Maxx Barry is evident in his writing. His humour and intelligence bring us through LA, Hollywood, corporate America and Madison Avenue and into the marketing world. Marketing is the biggest industry in the world, and it is invisible. "Marketing is like Los Angeles. It is a gorgeous, brainless model on cocaine having relations, drinking Perrier."
The characters that Maxx Barry has developed, Scat, 6, @, Sneaky Pete more than live up to their names. They are cool, charming and hilarious. This novel is a must read- move on over Seinfeld- Maxx has arrived.
prisrob

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Wants to be so hip that it hurts, 5 Jun 2007
By C. Green "happily low brow" (Faringdon, Oxon, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
Syrup is a book that wants to have its cake and eat it. On the one hand it wants to be a razor sharp satire on advertising, the media, consumerism and modern aspiration & celebrity obsessed society. On the other hand it wants so badly to be hip, down with the zeitgeist and ultra-modern (the very things it is seeking to satirise) that you can almost feel it.

Unfortunately what Syrup is is neither of these things. Its a soft satire that takes broad swipes at easy targets (Coca Cola, movies, consumerism, the vapidity of branding and advertising) that have been hit before and better. Nor is it as hip as it would like to be. Yes, the pace is relentless and the tone flippant and humourous, but this isn't a dangerous book preaching to the Gen-Y, anti-globalisation culture. Its a mildly diverting comedic tale of a young man trying to survive and make his fortune in the big wide world; a story that has been told in one form or another, and often better, a million times before.

So ignore the blurb about Syrup being an ultra-contemporary satire on our consumerist society. This is pure wish fulfilment. What it is in reality is a slight, entertaining but ultimately forgetable take on an age old story that will date very quickly.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An addictive, laugh out loud book from start to finish., 18 Jul 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Syrup (Hardcover)
Not only did Syrup manage to make me laugh out loud in the first chapter, I read it with a permanent smirk and certainly didn't want to put it down.

Having been a victim of advertising many a time, I gained great satisfaction at this comical and satirical look at the lengths Scat, '6' and Sneaky Pete go to in order to create the ultimate consumer product. Especially amusing are their antics to try and stay a step ahead of their knife-you-in-the-back peers.

While fun was poked at the marketing industry by often showing the stereotypically shallow side of marketing execs, the eccentricities of each character added to the humour and entertainment value of the novel.

All in all, a fantastic read!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars awesome
This is probably the funniest book i have ever read, loved it, i even ordered it from the USA after reading it as i had borrowed a copy from a friend there who recomended it and... Read more
Published on 5 Oct 2004 by T. Sanderson

5.0 out of 5 stars Not quite LA, but close enough
As a Southern California resident, I can appreciate the jabs Max makes at us, where even the illiterate can get into most of the 23 Cal State Universities. Read more
Published on 12 Aug 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars One hilarious send-up of marketing
Yeah, I guess this is a generation X novel, but I'm well beyond that and I still got one tremendous kick out of it. Read more
Published on 6 Mar 2003 by Neal C. Reynolds

5.0 out of 5 stars I Keep Returning to This Joyful Experience
You would be hard pressed to find a more entertaining read than this gorgeous work of art. In these uncertain times we live in, let me urge you to buy this book and escape like no... Read more
Published on 18 Oct 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars SSS - Sticky Sweet and full of Syrup
Picked it up and it just stuck, I could not put it down untill I had completely consumed it. It was like the sweet sound of ice in a fresh glass of coke..enjoy and refreshing.
Published on 5 Oct 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars Suspenseful, funny, and an all-around great book
I never believed a book about corporate marketing could be so enjoyable! The constant twists and turns in the plot keep you guessing (and keep you reading! Read more
Published on 20 Aug 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars READ THIS BOOK!!!
This book was fantastic. It was funny and poignant and it made my own job seem boring as hell...which I guess makes it also a little depressing. Read more
Published on 13 Aug 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars FANTASTIC ADDICTIVE READ
Syrup was a fantastic read. Rarely do I like the book from the first page. I LOVED this one from the first sentence.
Published on 11 Aug 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars A really hilarious spoof of the big,bad marketing world.
I really loved this book-as fresh and funny as Jonathan Baird's DAY JOB-both take gleeful swipes at the corporate world in which we're all entrenched. Read more
Published on 11 Aug 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars A turbo-charged caffeinated fun ride!
I had this book for a week before I started to seriously read it and once I got into Scat's attempt's to become rich, I was hooked. Read more
Published on 8 Aug 1999

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