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Jennifer Government

Max Barry
Publisher: Abacus
Binding:Paperback Pages: 352
Publication Date: 2004-02-05
Edition: New edition
ISBN: 0349117624
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40 Customer Reviews, Average Rating See reviews.

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Synopsis

• Described by Naomi Klein as 'Brilliant and hilarious', 'Jennifer Government' is a thriller for the 'No Logo' generation.

Customer Reviews

• World Class Ideas But Bog Standard Execution. by L. Ferguson - Galway Ireland
• The Plot: In the near future US corporations will dominate the globe and our daily lives to such an extent that people will take on the name of the company they work for as their surname. In this US-dominated world there will be no taxation and no rules for those who can afford to break them. Enter Hack Nike, a Nike employee who has been assigned the task of murdering several teenagers to help advertise the new Nike running shoes....
  
  The Good: This is a novel simply bursting with good ideas. The vision of a corporate-domnianted world is at once bizarre and believeable. The structure of society in the world of the novel is grimly familiar too, with contemporary efforts by the likes of McDonalds and Pepsi to insinuate themselves into every facet of our lives taken to their horrible, illogical conclusion. The central debate in the novel between the forces of naked self-interest and a more egalitarian view of the world make the book at least a cut above the usual airport thriller fare. The plot is amusing and engaging with a number of entertaining twists and turns and it is nothing if not action-packed. 'Jennifer Government' is an amazingly cinematic piece of writing, and I defy anyone to read it without visualising it on the big screen. Humour and satire permeate the story and take the edge off some of the darker and more gruesome elements.
  
  The Bad: Despite the good ideas, humour and fast pace, 'Jennifer Government' is badly written. The dialogue is appalingly bad and the prose is wooden throughout. The characters never rise above being one dimensional cartoons, with the villain 'John Nike' being particularly poor. While it is a satire on the excesses of global capitalism, the characterisation of John Nike as the very incarnation of evil just stretches credulity to breaking point. There is a mind-numbingly awful romantic subplot that really drags the book down with its pointlessness and implausibility. Finally, the politics of the book are rather childish and dull. There are only so many times one can be reminded of how evil and nasty and mean corporations are and how making money is a sin. I was reminded of the scene in 'Team America: World Police' where one of the actors protests about how 'The corporations sit in their corporation buildings and they're all corporationy...and they MAKE MONEY'. Yes indeed. There is a perfectly good satirical point to be made about the dangers of corporate influence over our lives, but the author instead goes down the route of making all corporations insanely, unbelievably evil and stamping his foot that people are too stupid to see this. Even a devout communist would start to feel a bit patronised after a while.
  
  Verdict: If you're looking for a fun, throwaway piece of fiction with a bit of a leftist edge this is a good place to get it. If you want genuine insight into the possibilites of dystopia and political awareness read Orwell or Huxley.
• 0 people found this review helpful.

• Thought provoking as well as a great tale by Christian - UK
• This book takes you into a future which is seemingly extrapolated from the course that the world has taken since the 1980's; into a place where seemingly everything is a commodity. Whilst recent events might be seen to avert any such future from occuring, it still fits as a view of the ultimate excesses of a capitalist system. Whether the reader hold the same view depends on the person.
  
  The tale does jump around with seemingly unconnected characters, finding their stories firmly linked together by the end of the book. The pace is well done, and whilst it takes a little time to visualise the era in which it is set, it does happen.
  
  If you like to challenge yourself and your world views then this is certainly a text that you should consider. If you just like a good futuristic story then Jennifer Government again serves well here.
• 0 people found this review helpful.

• Amusing take on an alternate political reality, but does not last by Peter Bjørn Perlsø - Denmark, Europe
• I bought this book some years back, perhaps because I was at the time of a political outlook not far from what was portrayed in the book.
  
  The backdrop and plot should be known to the readers, but for good measure I will provide a short rehash: the new US (aka The Federated Bloc), *everything* is privatized. The state barely exists and has no noticeable presence or function in the everyday life of the public. Corporations are by far the most visible element in daily life, and some run the functions which government once provided (police, military, courts). People take their surname from their employer. And so on.
  
  A Nike shoes employee, Hack Nike, is tasked to increase the demand for a new brand of Nike shoes (with an extreme sales price and an equally extreme(-ly low) production cost), by having ten teenagers shot when the first store carrying the product opens. He passes the job on (outsourcing) to the Police, which then outsources to the NRA, and from there on, it all goes wrong: The product launch turns into more of a bloodbath than Hack intended, and a mother of one of the victims of the campaign hires a government agent to investigate.
  
  The satirical oppertunity of the book is immense considering its setting in a world where privatization is taken to an extreme; in other words it would be candy for both those pro and anti of the portrayed world.
  
  Unfortunately it doesn't last; you can only go on for so long about describing a radically different political-economic reality without taking an overt point for or against it; the author, wisely so, abstains from this as that would have turned the book into a rant, instead he goes down the humorous road, spiked with satire.
  
  That doesn't last either; the humor fades away after the half-way marker, and the book ends up in the way of a confusing detective story with twists and sudden entrees that doesn't go well with the general feel of the story.
  
  After putting the book down I'm left with a sense of having read though a mishmash of political humor cum crime story; it has some good highlights, but overall not leaving any impression, and probably wont have me take it up again in the future.
  
  In closing - some people have claimed it is a social critique, an open attack on libertarianism, and dystopian in the lines of 1984. I'd say it is none of the three; it simply does not cut deep enough in these repects. It is not a social critique, because it is not very critical of anything (the main characters' negative experiences are in my view not cast as a general verdict against the ills of the society (which there do nt seem to be many of!), but mostly due to their own dissatisfaction. This is furthermore hard to tell because the portrayal of the persons and their emotions tend to be flat), it is not an attack on libertarianism, as it - again - doesnt offer any overt criticism (it is not a political rant, it's satirical humor, remember?), and it is not dystopian, because the world is not bad as such (unless you really hate anything private, in which case you likely will feel that the book is dystopian), merely different (all you know from today is there; dfference is that government doesnt provide any of it) with some negative aspects drawing from extreme privatization of everything (legalized private assasinations being the prime example), but this is not in itself a sufficient qualifying criteria.
• 0 people found this review helpful.

• Nasty good fun by J. Spock - France
• This book was recommended to me by a friend who is a Chuck Palahniuk fan, and there are some similarities in their styles. Over-the-top storylines, extreme characters, and ribaldry are what come to mind.
  
  The story is a great near future science-fictional take on the old trope of International Megacorporations Running The World, but Barry does a great job of making it fun and intriguing, if not entirely credible. The point of "realism" should not be pressed too hard, however, as this is more a fable taken at roller-coaster speed and a cautionary tale than some sort of realistic exposition of What Might Happen If We Continue Like This.
  
  I would definitely recommed this to anyone who likes a good read, a good laugh, some great ideas, and who views the modern corporate state (and in particular the offshoots of Madison Avenue) with a jaundiced eye.
• 0 people found this review helpful.

• With....Josh Lucas as John Nike by Andrew Kyle - Glasgow, Scotland
• Don't ask me why i pictured Josh Lucas as John Nike. I just did. And in many ways, this reflects on what the book is...something that so very desperately wants to be a film. There are moments in the narrative that wouldn't show well on a film, so its hardly merely a screenplay, its still deservant of its novel nature, but even so, you can't help but feel it was written with a hope one day of being translated into a film. A film, i add, i would enjoy. Its a satire through and through, taking multibillion corporations and poking fun at their ways, their conspiracies, their consuming marketing; and wonderfully taking real names into the mix. The idea of people being named for what company they work for is genius; john nike, hayley mcdonalds, buy mitsui, billy NRA and the titular Jennifer Government. Its all quite ingenius an idea. Its crazy and funny; daftities spring at you from the woodwork all the way through it and you'll find yourself sniggering to yourself, if perhaps not outright belly laughs. The narrative chops and turns throughout, providing quite a gripping page turner, and the plot, although relatively easy to follow and nothing special, is still interesting.
  And it sounds cool. Jennifer Government. Has a wicked ring to it.
• 0 people found this review helpful.