Rating: 
Summary: Funny, funny, funny!
Review: Excellent satire, with many funny small moments as well! A quick read that is funny all the way through!
Rating: 
Summary: If Christopher Buckley Had Written Snow Crash
Review: If Christopher Buckley had written Snow Crash it might have come off something like Max Barry's Jennifer Government. With great wit and satirism, Barry has painted a futuristic world in which capitalizm is the primary force of society to the extent that every individual takes the last name of the institution with which they are affiliated. Thus, characters like John Nike collide with Billy NRA and Jennifer Government in a high speed suspenseful plot.The plot moves along quickly, although Barry does rely a bit too heavily on the "small world" phenomenon. Characters involved in different subplots know each other and it all smashes together in some fairly violent scenes. The pace of the book is definitely plot-driven, and Barry sacrifices some character development to make his points about capitalism and the death of the individual. That said, this is a very funny book and an entertaining read, if a little on the fluffy side.
Rating:
Summary: "We' re all cogs in the wealth-making machine."
Review: In a world set in the not-too-distant and quite believable future, government takes a back seat to business. Big business controls the world, and entire continents are subsumed to business alliances--US Alliance and TA (Team Advantage). With almost tribe-like allegiances, employees take the name of their employer as a surname--therefore, with this definition, Jennifer Government works for the government, and the unemployed?...Well , they're Unmentionables as far as consumer spending is concerned. One day, at the water cooler, Hack Nike meets John Nike, Guerrilla Marketing Operative, New Sales, and John Nike, Guerrilla Marketing Vice-President. Hack is offered a job promoting a new brand of tennis shoes, and when pressured, he quickly signs a contract detailing the job. Too late, Hack Nike learns why it's a good thing to always read contracts before signing them.... To Hack's horror, he is told that he has just signed an agreement to assassinate 10 people who buy the new shoes. The 2 John Nikes from Guerrilla Marketing plan to use the killings as a part of a media blitz that will ultimately promote the new brand. Unable to contemplate killing anyone, Hack, does what any good citizen would do under the circumstances--he goes to the police. But the police are only interested in subcontracting the deal to the NRA. In a world where business corporations thwart, ignore, and subvert already weakened government controls, the interests of business and government are diametrically opposed. Thanks to Hack's contract, government and business interests are set on a collision course where only one element can emerge and rule. Jennifer Government is the tattooed agent with a personal interest in stopping Nike's Guerrilla Marketing. Rapidly paced, well-constructed, and written with panache, this futuristic novel is a change of pace for Australian author, Max Barry. Barry's first novel, "Syrup," (undeservedly out-of-print at this time) lampooned the world of marketing with strong wit. Jennifer Government is a much more serious novel--an indictment of the world as it may well become--a world in which it is in the best interests of business who now flagrantly "put a price tag on human life" to unleash anarchy and create the ultimate free-market.--displacedhuman, Amazon reviewer.
Rating: 
Summary: Wait for the Paperback!
Review: If you've gotten this far in the reviews, you already know the plot to "Jennifer Government", a book well-descended from Kornbluth and Pohl, "The Space Merchants", and striving toward Sheckley's classic "Victim Prime". There aren't a lot of funny science fiction novels in print, and the most successful combine an insightful backdrop with snappy dialog. "Jennifer Government" makes it partway, on both counts. In the novel, the Police and Government are both companies with a certain amount of residual brand loyalty, while the NRA has the best shooters. When the Police want kids shot, they hire the NRA, as opposed to the Government, who, with 20,000 agents in place, seem to be unable to do much of anything competently, including preventing murders that they have advance knowledge of. In order to "solve" the killings, they require advance funding from the victim's family. (Remember the desk sergeant in "Heavy Metal"?) There aren't really any characters to identify with, which doesn't necessarily hurt if you want to make your ideas the funny part---which happens often enough in "Jennifer Government" to make it a worthwhile read, even though you have to get over Your Primitive Desire for a "Plot" of some kind. Thanks to Bob, I have no need for artificial constructs of this kind. Given Barry's level of wit, as seen on his site maxbarry.com, I expected a lot more from the book than it delivered. There's a lot of cool ideas that don't really go as far as you'd hope, and though that may leave us wanting more (the key to good writing, according to Dickens) we don't want to pay hardcover prices for it. Still, it's worth having this one in your collection, and encouraging worthy Oz writers, so buy the paperback. Look for more from Max Barry, I have a hunch his next will be better yet.
Rating: 
Summary: Overpraised
Review: This certainly is a cutely updated Orwell, and the ideas are occasionally interesting. For that reason I gave it a star. That was it. The slick marketing and online game, the movie option, and all the hype cannot take away from the fact that the author is a semi-talented amateur. Like a bad puppeteer, you can see the strings here. There is such <effort> in writing that should flow effortlessly, should sing and sparkle with smartass humor but plods in so many places as to turn the mindless, fun read that was promised into way more work than it is worth.
Rating:
Summary: Great idea, ok book
Review: The setting of Jennifer Government, in a world controlled by corperations, was enough to catch my eye and make me read the book. Unfortunately, I must discourage anyone who expects this book to live up to what it could have been from reading this book. It's an easy read, with most chapters being two or three pages, and the characters' quick dialogue moves the story along quickly. The storyline is interesting enough, and Barry moves the plot along without hesitation. But the same things that make this an interesting book also work against it. As I said, Barry's dialogue is quick. This leaves little room for anything more than a script most suited to an action thriller. Also, characters' thoughts (when he bothers to show them) are shallow or peppered with meaningless observations. Characters draw conclusions from thin air, and their reasoning can be confusing. There is little serious thought in this book, as Barry jumps from character to character and sacrifices aspects of the plot in the process. Finally, the author's writing style is very hurried, and when the book does it the reader is left to wonder where Barry was trying to lead him. While this was an interesting read, Barry fails to take advantage of the book's novel premesis. He presents the reader a world of possibilities (note the map on the back cover) and yet limits himself to a somewhat sappy plot that even the show Law & Order could have made riveting. The reviews on the cover are misleading, and the end is very disappointing. The author could have done MUCH more in this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun, a decent read, but lacking.
Review: I picked up this book as an impulse buy thinking that it might make for a quick, fun read and that there might be some depth or a witty critique of modern society in it. I found that it lacked everything except being a quick, fun read. The changes in characters and the constant time shifts in the plot when moving between the characters quickly shattered the strength of the story, Barry's message, or the world he set it in. This causes a jarring effect and, while following the plot isn't difficult, it loses a lot of power that the story would otherwise have had. Characters in this novel are almost universally flat, lacking any kind of depth or sustenance to speak of, and you never get a feel for them or a sense of their reality. This also causes problems in that his choice of language at several points is jarring with respect to the reader. That being said, it was a light, fun read that--while it didn't make one introspective in the slightest--was certainly worth taking a little time to get through.
Rating:
Summary: Fast and Funny
Review: I really enjoyed this book. The flaws some people point out are easily covered up by the speed of the book. I flew right through it very entertained and amused all the way. I did not see any problems with the character developement and found my self deeply involved with the plot. The setting was amusing and disturbing. I like how things seamed to just happen at exactly the right time. Very interesting and exiting book with alot of funny developements. The book seamed to stay in the same general tone throughout wich was fast and slightly contradictory.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I really enjoyed this book. I found it via NationStates.net, and I wasn't sure if I would like it, but I did. It somehow manages to capture the spirit of NationStates while having very little to actually do with it. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: This one is destined to become a new classic...
Review: Think "1984" or "Brave New World" with a twist. Max Berry has joined, in my opinion, Orwell and Huxley in a new startling could be true story. This is a world where taxes are outlawed. The United States controls most of the world. France is the only hold out in a corporation-dominated world. Your job is your identity. The police are nothing more then a paid service that will do anything for the right price. Call 911 only if you are affiliated with the right companies-not to mention, rich. At the heart of this story is an ex-advertising executive, Jennifer Government. Because of her past, she finds herself in the center of a war between Government, the NRA and big corporations. Joining her are a strange and eclectic group of characters, whom you will love to love and love to hate. Max Berry has a wonderful writing style coupled with an extreme (or maybe not so extreme) imagination. A great and fun read for anyone. Especially those of use who are sick of hearing advertisements run amuck.
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