Synopsis
Welcome to paradise! The world is run by American corporations (except for a few deluded holdouts like the French); taxes are illegal; employees take the last names of the companies they work for; the Police and the NRA are publicly-traded security firms; and the U.S. government only investigates crimes it can bill for. Hack Nike is a Merchandising Officer who discovers an all-new way to sell sneakers. Buy Mitsui is a stockbroker with a death-wish. Billy NRA is finding out that life in a private army isn't all snappy uniforms and code names. And Jennifer Government, a legendary agent with a barcode tattoo, is the consumer watchdog from hell.
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 56% - 18 Review(s)
"It will simultaneously stimulate your interest and beg you to focus on the many satirical aspects of consumerism in America." -- Nicholas Thomas, USA Today
"For the first hundred pages or so, he unleashes enough wit and surprise to make his story a total blast." -- Rob Walker, The New York Times
"John and his nemesis, Agent Jennifer Government, are a bit over-the-top, but their excesses are also what make Barry's world of unregulated corporate greed and unrelenting consumerism so frightening and funny." -- Emily Mead, Entertainment Weekly
"Despite plenty of inside digs at corporate greed and bottom-line thinking, you don't need a marketing degree to enjoy the copious and well-choreographed action sequences." -- Jay MacDonald, Fort Myers News-Press
"You can almost hear the movie adapters (George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh) thanking him for providing such strong visual scenes." -- Gavin J. Grant, BookPage
"This book markets itself as ''a `Catch-22' for the New World Order,'' but nobody will mistake ''Jennifer Government'' for Joseph Heller's wonderful novel. Barry's book simply hasn't got the heart, depth, or humanity of Heller's work, or of such futuristic classics as Margaret Atwood's ''The Handmaid's Tale'' and Aldous Huxley's ''Brave New World.'' But this novel is still fresh and very clever, if not terribly weighty." -- Erica Noonan, The Boston Globe
"Jennifer Government is a mediocre novel, an extremely good mediocre novel, but mediocre nevertheless." -- Sean Ferguson, Long Island Press
"This book sizzles in your hands." -- Lisa Parsons, Manchester HippoPress
"Surely, there will be readers delighted by Jennifer Government, but, like me, some will be disappointed by this lackluster follow-up to Barry's sharper and wittier first novel, Syrup." -- Chris Baker, MostlyFiction.com
"Australian author Max Barry's swiftly intercut storylines and deftly humorous extrapolations of current trends make this novel, his second, as entertaining as it is thought-provoking." -- Nisi Shawl, The Seattle Times
"Mostly, it's a screenplay-friendly juggernaut of stock characters, dialogue with lots of swearing and a writing style made up of simple declaratives." -- Greg Stepanich, Dretroit Free Press
"In short, I’d highly recommend this book." -- Alex Lightman, SFRevu
"Barry sets up these spectacular fireworks, but then lets the whole thing fizzle out, sadly undermining the bite of his subversive tale." -- Claude Lalumière, Infinity Plus
"By the time the story ends in the only possible setting, a shopping mall, all hope for the thing has long since run out and the tale has devolved into chase scenes, shootouts and stare-downs." -- Porter Anderson, CNN
"Part anti-consumerist broadside, part slick thriller, Jennifer Government has already been optioned by Hollywood. Now, how's that for satire?" -- Jon Courtenay Grimwood, The Guardian
"This is a hugely fun and contemporary novel." -- Joe Gordon, The Alien Online
"It is a witty, fast paced thriller with its heart in the right place." -- Martin Lewis, The Alien Online
"This book is worth reading for two simple reasons, it will make you think about global consumerisation, and you have to find out what her tattoo means." -- Chrissi, Booklore
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Hardcover
Hardcover