Author Max Barry

Max Barry, or Maxx Barry (depending if you read the book Syrup) is a modern Australian author with three published novels, and another forthcoming. He has a very strong cult following, and is known for a very simple and direct writing style while still managing a sharp irony in his work.

Barry's humor is excellent, and despite many of his books lampooning marketing and his hatred of a previous marketing job he held, he's awfully good at promoting hs work through creative means.

One of his most famous lines is a quote. He says about himself and his decision to put his name as "Maxx Barry" on Syrup that he "put an extra X in his name for Syrup because he thought it was a funny joke about marketing, and failed to realize everyone would assume he was a pretentious asshole."

Barry's first novel is a dystopian science fiction novel about a society where corporations run everything. To help market the book he created the online game NationStates, which took off beyond his wildest dreams and helped him acquire his cult following.

He is also the owner of the website "Tales of Corporate Oppression." He lives in Melbourne with his wife and daughter and worked as a marketer for Hewlett-Packard before he became a novelist, where he continues to draw inspiration for his ironic and satirical prose style.

The screenplay rights to all three of his novels have been optioned, and there is some promising developments in the work for movies to come out for each of his novels, and these will be highly anticipated by his fan base.

Syrup, by Max Barry, was his first novel, except for Great Britain, which never published it, so Jennifer Government is still considered his first work there.

This first novel is customary of Max Barry's style: very straight forward and unpretentious language, an enjoyable read that maintains great irony and satirical style.

In this novel a young marketing graduate named Scat (a nickname he takes because he can't get high up in marketing with his real name) comes up with an idea for a new product for Coca-Cola called Fukk (the main marketing innovation is the black can it comes in, and the extra-carbonation causing the can to hiss when opened).

This single idea drops him into a world of backstabbing, ladder-climbing marketers--even including his former roommate Sneaky Pete and 6, a beautiful and intelligent executive at Coca-Cola and alleged lesbian that Scat falls in love with, you know, just to make things even more complicated for poor Scat than they already are.

It also sends him through repeated stretches of homelessness, constant insane demands, dire poverty, and even a brush with the Hollywood movie machine in a crazy adventure that brings Scat through worlds he didn't even know existed as his idea drags him through hell and back.

Syrup, like many of Max Barry's novels, is fun and a "light" read that is easy to digest while still addressing deeper issues. The irony is superb, and you can tell that Max knows about the world he is writing about, and making fun of, as he is even making fun of marketing with his name: Maxx Barry on the cover, with an extra 'x.'

Barry keeps the novel moving at a brisk pace that makes this readable, and he has a much better sense of pacing than many modern literary authors whose writing is affected by an idealistic snobbery.

There's everything here for a good read: Great humor and irony, sarcasm and satire, romantic interests, highs and lows of success and failure, and the classic show down between hero and former best friend turned villian.

In the end, isn't that what we all want out of a read? This is a great light read that manages to make some excellent points about marketing and society in general.

Jennifer Government is a novel written by modern Australian author Max Barry. Published in 2003, it was Barry's second novel, following Syrup, which was realeased in 1999. This novel is set in a dystopian future where corporations really rule over nations.

There are governments, but they are dominated by for-profit corporate entities while the Government's power is extremely limited. This book has fantastic satirical and ironic humor, while maintaining a solid plot and character development.

Jennifer Government is a great dystopian science fiction novel that criticizes the concept of a government with too little power, rather than one with too much like many dystopian novels. Because of this, some readers see the novel as a criticism of libertarianism, or general corporate greed.

The novel was re-titled Logoland for the German and Italian editions. Initially the book received better international attention than in Australian or American markets, and the invention of the online computer game NationStates by Max Barry international attention, and allowed him to write full time.

The story takes place several years (what year exactly is never mentioned) after the United States has taken over the entire Western Hemisphere. Russia is said to be affiliated with the US, but not fully absorbed: it's never explained fully.

With so much land under the US's control, international trade becomes no longer needed, and thus the US cuts itself off from countries that it has not yet taken over. This is a great critique of American foreign policy and the possible dangers it holds.

Amongst these other countries is the European Union, which is thought of by Americans to be "socialist." The language of all US lands is now "American", the language formerly known as English. Sometime during this takeover, corporations overtake governments as the main entity, and introduce massive changes that continue to consolidate their power.

Either before or after this takeover, taxation is abolished, which eventually leads to the U.S. adopting what is referred to as "capitalizm." Think completely unchecked capitalism. To keep from being restricted by the government, in this new state, the Government is privatized, meaning it can only do the work that is within its enormously shrunken budget.

This makes the Government unable to write new laws or even hold elections, leaving it with its only job being the prevention of crime. Crimes can also be solved, but the Governments' budget only covers retaliatory investigations if the Government can be paid by the victim or the victim's family to do so. Funding rules, making most corporations also above the law.

Outside of the Government there are two other military organizations of power: the Police and the NRA. The Police has since become privatized, having been reduced to a combination of law enforcement and mercenary agency, and is only involved when contracted by interested parties.

Meanwhile, the NRA has become a complete mercenary-for-hire organization able to deploy a fully equipped military force. This part comes into play later in the novel.

Most large corporations are now allied into one of two massive customer loyalty programs, US Alliance and Team Advantage, which compete fiercely with each other.

US Alliance members include real life companies such as Nike, IBM, Pepsi, McDonald's, and the NRA. Team Advantage members include the Police, ExxonMobil, Burger King, and Apple Computer.

People in this dystopian future now take the surnames of the corporations they work for, and a person with two jobs hyphenates their name (e.g. Julia Nike-McDonalds). Charity workers can also use their charity's name in a hyphenated surname.

Schools are now sponsored and controlled by corporations. Though little is said of the education given at them, though by what the reader is allowed to see, Max Barry makes it clear that it is all propoganda oriented.

Children who attend school are given the corporate sponsor's name as a surname, but are parenthesized with their parents' employers in school directories, such as "Kate Mattel (Government)."

Other notable aspects of society include pre-payment before ambulances can be dispatched, the abolishment of welfare, total deregulation of weapons, legalized drugs sold in supermarkets, and privately owned roads with charged access. It is Adam Smith's worst nightmare of unfettered capitalism run amock.

Jennifer Government is a former successful corporate worker who embittered, decided to work for the government and is its most feared agent, known by even the corporations.

As part of a scheme hatched by the ambitious marketing executive John Nike, a lower-level merchandising worker named Hack Nike is unwittingly contracted to kill at least ten teenagers and steal their new Nike Mercury sneakers, priced at $2,500 a pair (and costing 85 cents to manufacture), in an effort to improve the "street cred" of the shoe and send demand for them through the roof.

When he subcontracts the hit to the Police, who themselves subcontract it to the NRA, the plan goes awry: the parents of one of the victims, a schoolgirl named Hayley McDonald's, are willing to pay for the retributive investigation headed by Jennifer Government, a Government agent with a barcode tattoo under her left eye and fueled by a personal score to settle.

The story gets rolling as Jennifer tracks down this scheme, and corporations get more and more desperate to have her eliminated. The humor and satire never changes even as Max Barry provides a fantastic action sequence.

Company is Max Barry's 3rd book, and is receiving more early accolades than his others. The New York Times and New York Times Book Review gave grades of 'A' and 'A-,' to Max Barry's newest novel.

Company is a modern satire of the office job, taking on life in the modern corporate world, whether it's Great Britain, Australia, the United States, or anywhere, really, for that matter.

The protagonist of this story is Stephen Jones, hired by Zephyr Holdings, Inc, as an assistant in the Training Sales department. Jones' first mistake is that he is too curious about what exactly Zephyr does. It seems absolutely no one has the foggiest idea about what the company actually manufactures or sells--but Jones is determined to find out.

He does, and that makes for the decent premise Barry offers. I won't say what is here: because I HATE SPOILERS!!! So I'm not subjecting you to a spoiler that will ruin the fun. The twist is done in coventional Max Barry style, with satire and irony, and a worthwhile twist to keep the reader hooked.

This book takes the stupid theories or trends of corporate America, taking the ideas of "synergy" and "what should be done" with all the ideas and practices and shows how ridiculous they are compared to the common sense solutions that end up never being made. Downsizing, savings, consolidation, merging, and outsourcing are all lampooned themes in this great satiric work.

Anyone who ever screamed to get away from the insanity of the corporate world will love this book.