Rating: 
Summary: mostly for entertainment
Review: I found this book a little boring. I mean, the writing is written at a basic level, with simple sentences taking the forefront. The guy is hilarious on his web site, I just wish some of that humour would of went over to the book. In books, you are supposed to "show, don't tell", but all he does usually is just tell. At one point, he says that a character "felt emotional". It's bad enough if it was just "he felt sad" or "he felt happy", but not even a specific emotion here! It's not totally anti-corporate either, more like a comedy piece. Not completely serious, and not much reflection or redeeming value. It doesn't make you think much, it's meant more for entertainment. Other than that, it's a ok book.
Rating: 
Summary: Great stuff....
Review: I was ready for about anything when I picked up Jennifer Government. I admit it, I was sucked in by Barry's "Nation States" site and bought because of that. However, Jennifer Government stands on its own as a superb read and as having quite an inventive and twisting plot. If you want comparisons, it smacked to me of being a mix of Carl Hiaasen and Hunter S. Thompson - to me, two bigger compliments couldn't be found for Mr. Barry. This one gets five stars and, egads, I'm going to pick up his first novel, Syrup, because of it.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun Take Off on Where We May Be Headed
Review: Jennifer Government is a fun rea--a satirical look at where we may be headed--a world where people derive their identity, and their last names, from their employers, a world where the government and the police are for profit industries that have bottom lines to look out for, instead of looking out for citizens. In all of this there is Jennifer, Jennifer Government, the one principaled person in search of some terrible Nike employees who used murder as a promotion device for their new sneakers. Some events in the novel don't seem very far from reality, especially if you look at the world through cynical eyes. This novel is amusing and enjoyable. Have fun and don't take it too seriously.
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Summary: Jen Gov From Students Point of Views
Review: In today?s society there are a multitude of books being printed and in a variety of different categories, science fiction, historical fiction, cyber punk, and medieval fiction, with all these types it is hard to find a good book to read. Jennifer Government, written by Max Barry, is his second published book. Jennifer Government should be at the top of anybody?s list that likes science fiction.Jennifer Government is about future America and the major corporations running most of the government. The future he paints is one without tax and with much chaos. The book skips around to several main characters as the book intertwines the characters as the story unfolds. The book pulls you in as you put together the story and as action increases while they travel around the world. As things are in science fiction, lots of things change in the world. For instance everyone?s name has their regular first name followed by the company they work for. The main character in the story, Jennifer Government, as you can see works for the government. That is her suffix as it is called in the book. If you are unemployed you don?t have a last name at all like Violet, another character in the story. Also if you work for multiple companies you would have a name like Georgia Saints-Nike. She works for the Church of Latter-day Saints and Nike. Another very fiction part in the book is that 90% of the world is United States of America. Most countries in the world have been annexed by the United States. The countries that are not U.S. property are France, and a few other European nations. They mostly talk about France as being the odd nation out. Buy Mitsui, a character in Jennifer Government, is from France. He is a very caring person in the book very much unlike most other characters in the book wanting money and power. This book is by far the best book I have ever read. It passes The Hobbit, The Lord of The Rings, and Dune. This books should be read by anyone who loves a good read, a twisting plot line, lots of action, and can handle a few swear words written. The part that makes this book the best is that it is written by an Australian. We kind of get an outside perspective on how the world views the United States. In a few ways it relates to relative issues in the world today. I also recommend reading the Matrix if you like this book, they both show an interesting representation on how the world could be in the future. The greatest theme in Jennifer Government is chaos or good triumphs over evil. There is much chaos in the book but it is all good triumphing over evil. Another thing the book teaches you is if you say your going to do something stick by your word. There are very few things in life as important as the truth, a promise, and the follow up on that promise.
Rating:
Summary: More complicated plotting than a Guy Richie movie
Review: Meet Hack Nike, Buy Mitsui, Billy NRA, and Jennifer Government. Not to mention the slew of other conglomerate personnas they get inter-twined with. In a world where even your name is an advertisement, money doesn't talk, only your stock portfolio.
Hack Nike has accidentally signed a contract to kill ten purchasers of Nike's new Mercury running shoe. Buy Mitsui has just realized that he isn't going to be fired, and in a little while he's not going to care. Billy NRA, a top shelf marksman, just wants to ski, but somehow manages to get himself on a plane to Melborne to kill a cop. Enter Jennifer Government whose a V8 agent running on twelve cylanders. With the lives of these four weaving in and out of each other, some a little closer than others, it does get a little bit diffacult to focus on the primary story: the search for clues on John Nike's involvement with the murders of fourteen Nike Mercurys (even though it was only supposed to be ten). Even so, the side bits (Hack finding his assertive self, Buy losing his drive to work, Billy being tossed between the Government and NRA with a complete lack of loyalties, Jennifer getting in tough with her feminine side) are at times more interesting than the scapades with John Nike.
The true brilliance of the book is how each character has their own life that feels like a book unto itself, yet manages to keepo an even pacing. The subversive undertones of Barry's feelings on marketing seem like the focus of the book early on, but it eventually evaporates into nothing more than obsessive ambition. It isn't a commentary, just a roller coaster through this rather bizarre world of economy gone nuts. But there's also an emotional element. The sub-plot of Jennifer and daughter is, at times, heart-wrenchingly sad (though not Alice Sebold-esque shameless tear-jerking). Buy's trauma over the Mercury shootings is relatable, though casual in a way that feels flipant at times. Hack's bumbling idiot turns revolutionary is a really nice upbeat to a story that could easily get bogged down by economic cynicism and rogue obsession. Though Billy's plight is somewhat under-developed so that he feels like a side character rather than a focal point.
This book is a light page-turner, great for knocking out in one shot on a Saturday afternoon.
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Summary: Preaching to the Choir, but That's Okay
Review: Max Barry's second novel, "Jennifer Government," is an interesting read in the style of "Brave New World" and "Animal Farm." Using a trope we've all seen more than once - the idea of a dystopian future in which our lives as citizens have been bought out by major corporations - Barry crafts a hybrid of police procedural, spy drama, love story, and polemic inflected with a distinct voice. That said, the book is imperfect. Barry is trying to craft a political novel by combining the standards of a paperback action book with targeted invective. At times the balance tilts one way or the other, lapsing alternately into a shoot-em-up and a harangue. In the former case, the point can be forgotten in favor of the villainy and derring-do; in the latter case, the plot bogs down in the face of argument. Both of these slow down the intellectual processing of the book. The storyline is uncomplicated: in a future world, in which technology doesn't appear to have advanced all that much but society has devolved horribly, a corporate honcho decides that a wave of violence would drum up business and move a lot of product. This sets off a chain of events that pit the police against the NRA, with the government trying to stop all of them. Events rocket from Australia to California to London to wherever they wind up, all at a substantial pace. Gun battles are balanced by intellectual games and willpower contests. Read the novel for itself, in these terms, and it's a pretty good book. Unfortunately, the intellectual point is never satisfactorily addressed, leaving readers who straddle the fence on the issue of corporate influence unswayed. Barry seems to know what it is he's gunning for, creating this cautionary tale of the end of the world through buyout, but he also seems to expect that everyone will agree with him because his point is just so true. This won't wash with those who have their minds made up against him. The cinema-friendly imagery in this book suggests that Barry, here disparaging corporate marketing tactics, is looking to cross-market his book. Huh? Sure enough, Stephen Soderbergh and George Clooney have already optioned the story. Beliefs are good as long as they keep you fed, I suppose. Besides, even if having two big names in the media world hold forth to us about the evils of marketing, and it's bedfellow the media, at least the message is still getting out there. This novel will probably entertain and endorse those who already agree with its general thrust. To those who know the background information Barry assumes, it will be a great read. To those who support the status quo, or think the free market will make everything well, this book will be tiresome and without point. This is a cautionary tale that may serve to caution only those who already believe.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent book! I stayed up the night to read it all.
Review: This is a great little book. If you are a fan of William Gibson, Neal Stephenson, Kafka and Stanislaw Lem, then this book has a little of each of these writers in it for you. The characters are well thought out, the plot solid, and the ending was great. I can't wait for the movie.
Rating:
Summary: A Fun Read
Review: Jennifer Government, author Max Barry's sophomoric literary achievement is a fine follow-up to his first novel, Syrup. Placed in quite a different setting, but still retaining the satirical wit of the marketing world found in Syrup, Jennifer unfolds in a futuristic world (official subdivide into the United States Federated Economic Blocs, along with a few minor powers still holding out against mass crass commercialism) where cooperation have more power than governments and people take their employers as their last names.
It begins with Hack Nike stumbles onto the marketing floor looking for a working water cooler and lands himself a dream job. Class, high pay rates, and hardly any grunt work, but there's only one catch: he has to kill ten people to promote Nike's new line of shoes. The scheme is dreamt up by John & John Nike (Nike bigwigs) who figure that even if they do get caught, the amazing street cred that will go along with the shoes will boost sales into the stratosphere and easily cover any court fees. They easily get Hack to sign the contract without reading it, which in this world can be professional death.
He gets nervous and subcontracts the job out to the Police, who subcontract it out to the NRA, and that's where things start to get interesting. Jennifer Government, Buy Mitsui, and Billy NRA are just a few of the characters dragged into the whirlpool of chaos as cooperate backstabbing and brand name warfare ensue in a month that could change the fate of the world's commercial and political landscape forever.
Jennifer Government is a good novel for anyone who can appreciate humor targeted at our increasingly media frenzied world of brand names and mergers and anyone who enjoyed his first novel. Things are looking up for Mr. Barry if he can continue putting out such engaging stories. (sorry if it's a bit wordy, had to submit this for school)
Rating:
Summary: A book to read for fun; not one to think deeply about.......
Review: Folks, I enjoyed this one heck of a lot. Doesn't mean you will though, so I'll try to tell you enough so that you'll know whether it's for you or not. First, it is a fast & easy read like a Spenser novel, so if you read it and don't like it, you won't have wasted a lot of time. Secondly, with all respect to the author, I feel he wrote this for fun and didn't really work hard to craft it, and since he made it as much fun to read for many of us as he had writing, that's quite okay. Thirdly, writing it for fun, I doubt that he means this to have a serious message. He conceived of a society in which free enterprise goes completely wild and went on from there to present us with individuals trying to survive in this society. Admittedly, I had the feeling that these characters were cardboard characters, and yet there were moments that moved me such as Hayley McDonald's fate, and its effect on Buy Mitsui who plays an unwitting hand in it. Also affecting to me was John Nike's punishment. Unlike another reviewer, I feel that he received the ultimate punishment for the person he was. If you're willing to suspend disbelief for a few hours in order to enjoy a fast and funny roller coaster ride, I heartily recommend this.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent satire
Review: While I would have to argue that comparisons to "1984" or "Catch-22" are a bit extravagant, Max Barry has nonetheless written a scathing satire of our consumer culture that is well worth reading. Set in a near future where taxes have been abolished, the government privatized and the NRA is outsourcing its private army to the world's largest corporations, "Jennifer Government" is by turns funny and terrifying. The novel kicks off in a fashion that would be funny if it wasn't so deadly serious. As Nike assassinates customers in order to develop street credibility, the Government attempts to halt the carnage. The result is a trade war that extends beyond the use of advertising and into the use of heavy artillery. Along the way, the reader is introduced to several remarkable characters, including the eponymous Jennifer Government, who, while stylized, are remarkably effective. At the same time, the writing and pacing are both excellent; a big problem with satire is that it all too often bogs down under the weight of its own righteous outrage. Fortunately, nothing could be further from the case with "Jennifer Government", the story hums along at break-neck pace, and the dialogue is snappy, without being abrupt. As with any satire, the reader would be well advised to take this novel with a grain of salt. I think Max Barry would be the first to admit that it is unlikely that Burger King and McDonalds are going to engage in a shooting war any time soon. That said, he does make a powerful statement about the deadening effects modern corporate culture can have on the human psyche, not to mention mankind, and the planet, as a whole. "Jennifer Government" is a well written, entertaining satire; the author injects his dystopian future with just enough absurdity to keep the book from bogging down, but not so much that it becomes completely nonsensical. Ultimately "Jennifer Government" is both an engaging read, and a reminder that the important things in life don't come from a store.
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