In the horrifying, satirical near future of Max Barry's Jennifer Government, American corporations literally rule the world. Everyone takes his employer's name as his last name; once-autonomous nations as far-flung as Australia belong to the USA; and the National Rifle Association is not just a worldwide corporation, it's a hot, publicly traded stock. Hack Nike, a hapless employee seeking advancement, signs a multipage contract and then reads it. He discovers he's agreed to assassinate kids purchasing Nike's new line of athletic shoes, a stealth marketing maneuver designed to increase sales. And the dreaded government agent Jennifer Government is after him.

Like Steve Aylett, Alexander Besher, Douglas Coupland, Paul Di Filippo, Jim Munroe, Jeff Noon, and Chuck Palahniuk, Max Barry is an author of smartass, punky satire for the late capitalist era. It's a hip and happening field; before publication, Jennifer Government (Barry's second novel) was optioned by Stephen Soderbergh and George Clooney's Section 8 Films for a major motion picture. However, the level of literary accomplishment varies wildly among practitioners, from brilliant (Di Filippo and Palahniuk) to amateurish (Besher). This field is so hot, its writers needn't be nearly as accomplished as they'd have to become to break into any other form of fiction.

That said, like many of his fellow turn-of-the-millennium satirists, Barry is uneven. He has a lively imagination and a sharp eye for the absurdities and offenses of hypercorporate capitalism. But, with its sketchy characters and slow dialogue, Jennifer Government will disappoint anyone who believes the cover copy's grandiose claim that this is "a Catch-22 for the New World Order." --Cynthia Ward


From Publishers Weekly
Free enterprise runs amok in Barry's satirical near-future nightmare: the American government has been privatized and now runs most of the world, including "the Australian Territories of the U.S.A.," where the book is set. American corporations sponsor everything from schools to their employees' identities, and literally go to war with one another. By taking a drink at the wrong water cooler, Hack Nike, a merchandising officer at the athletic shoe company whose name he bears, is coerced into a nefarious marketing plot to raise the demand for Nike's new $2,500 sneakers by shooting teenagers. Hank becomes responsible for the death of hapless teen Hayley McDonald's; he and two top Guerrilla Marketing executives, both named John Nike, are soon pursued by the ruthless Jennifer Government, a former advertising executive who is now a federal agent with a personal ax to grind-and preferably to sink into the cranium of her hated ex, one of the John Nikes. Barry tosses off his anticorporate zingers with relish; his sendup of "capitalizm"-a world where fraud is endemic and nearly everyone (except the French) is a cog in vast wealth-creation machines-has some ingenious touches. The one-joke shtick wears thin, however, and is simply overdone at times ("I'm getting rid of Government, the greatest impediment to business in history," says John. "Yes, some people die. But look at the gain!"). Barry's cartoonish characters and comic book chase scenes don't allow for much psychological subtlety or emotional resonance. Still, if it's no 1984, this breezy, stylish read will amuse the converted and get some provocative conversations going.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
Adult/High School-In a satiric near future, privatization has taken over all aspects of public life-including schools, police, and government-and the world is divided among economic blocs. Surnames reflect the company people work for, and, increasingly, the alliance of corporations to which the company belongs. When hapless Hack Nike, a lowly Merchandise Distribution Officer, runs into the wrong people-John Nike and (yes) John Nike, Vice Presidents-at the watercooler, he is inveigled into a highly illegal, unethical merchandising act. When he goes to the police for help, they sell him a contract (which he can't afford) to take the job off his hands, and then subcontract the work to the NRA, which botches it, putting Field Agent Jennifer Government on the case. Jennifer is a single mother with a savvy daughter, Kate Mattel (children take the name of their school), who is a bit of a heroine herself. A hard-boiled detective with a soft heart and a ready wisecrack, Jennifer has an enigmatic tattoo, a mysterious past, and a mission to bring down wrongdoers-especially at Nike. The story takes her on a madcap chase across the United States Economic Bloc from Melbourne to London, culminating in a bizarre world war with a surprising outcome. The cast includes quite a few characters, and while they aren't deep, they are colorful, pointed, and funny. This fast read should please a variety of teens with its hip attitude and hilarious turns, and could spark lively discussions.Christine C. Menefee, Fairfax County Public Library, VACopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Yes, the eponymous heroine really does work for the government. In a world where corporations run everything, even giving employees their surnames, Jennifer steps in to help Hack Nike, who has unwittingly contracted to shoot teenagers wearing a classy brand of sneakers. You weren't expecting anything ordinary from the author of Syrup, were you? Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
In the near future, giant corporations rule the world, and governments are but competing firms, and by no means the most powerful ones. Instead of family names, workers take on the names of their employers. In this mega-industrialized world, the swashbuckling cop of the title, the one with the barcode tattoo under her eye, must bring to justice executives who have ordered random murders in order to boost the price of their top-of-the-line sneakers. This satiric thriller from down under draws a Yankee narrator, Patrick Frederic, a very capable Yank who delivers all the thrills and chills and humor we could wish. Y.R. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
In the not-too-distant future, Australia and the UK are part of the U.S., government and law enforcement have become for-profit businesses, and corporate ethics have been reduced to a simple question of economics (more so than now, anyway). Hoping for a promotion from his dead-end merchandising job, Hack Nike takes a special assignment from two Nike executives, which, he discovers, requires him to gun down teenagers to promote a tough urban image for Nike's new line of shoes. Finding that the family of one of the victims can afford to pay for the investigation, Jennifer Government takes the case to find the killers and expose the Nike conspiracy. As she gets closer to the truth, Nike hatches a plan to end government interference in business forever, and all-out war erupts between the two rival marketing superpowers, comprising the largest companies from nearly every industry. Though pensive readers may extract political commentary from it, Barry's latest novel has more value as entertainment. A refreshingly creative and unique read. Gavin Quinn
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
"Wicked and wonderful. . . . [It] does just about everything right. Fast-moving, funny and involving."—The Washington Post Book World

“Funny and clever. . . . A kind of ad-world version of Dr. Strangelove. [Barry] unleashes enough wit and surprise to make his story a total blast.” —The New York Times Book

“May be the most fun you’ll find in a bookstore this year. . . . Full of wit, humor and imagination, Jennifer Government ultimately pulls off its over-the-top conceit.”—Time Out New York

“A riotous satirical rant. . . . [Its characters’] excesses . . . make Barry’s world of unregulated corporate greed and unrelenting consumerism so frightening and funny.”—Entertainment Weekly

“The plot rockets forward on hyperdrive . . . fresh and very clever.”—The Boston Globe

“[A] devilish satire that made me laugh out loud.”—Dick Adler, The Chicago Tribune



Review
"Wicked and wonderful. . . . [It] does just about everything right. Fast-moving, funny and involving."?The Washington Post Book World?Funny and clever. . . . A kind of ad-world version of Dr. Strangelove. [Barry] unleashes enough wit and surprise to make his story a total blast.? ?The New York Times Book ?May be the most fun you?ll find in a bookstore this year. . . . Full of wit, humor and imagination, Jennifer Government ultimately pulls off its over-the-top conceit.??Time Out New York?A riotous satirical rant. . . . [Its characters?] excesses . . . make Barry?s world of unregulated corporate greed and unrelenting consumerism so frightening and funny.??Entertainment Weekly?The plot rockets forward on hyperdrive . . . fresh and very clever.??The Boston Globe ?[A] devilish satire that made me laugh out loud.??Dick Adler, The Chicago Tribune

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"In Max Barry's twisted, hilarious vision of the near future, the world is run by giant 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; the Government may investigate crimes only if it can bill a citizen directly. It's a free market paradise!" "Hack Nike is a lowly Merchandising Officer who's not very good at negotiating his salary. So when John Nike and John Nike, executives from the promised land of Marketing, offer him a contract, he signs without reading it. Unfortunately, Hack's new contract involves committing murder to build up street cred for Nike's new line of $2,500 sneakers. Scared, Hack goes to the Police, who assume he's asking for a subcontracting deal and lease the job to the NRA." Soon Hack finds himself pursued by Jennifer Government, a tough-talking agent with a barcode tattoo under her eye and a rabid determination to nail John Nike (the boss of the other John Nike). In a world where your job title means everything, the most cherished possession is a platinum credit card, and advertising jingles give way to artillery in the fight for market share, Jennifer Government is the consumer watchdog from hell.

FROM THE CRITICS

The New York Times

It's probably not fair to criticize Jennifer Government for failing to make the reader angry enough to toss a chair through a Starbucks window. Even the most ambitious social satires tend to have rather limited power in the real world, and Barry is surely more interested in entertaining than in preaching or inciting. And he is entertaining. For the first hundred pages or so, he unleashes enough wit and surprise to make his story a total blast. — Rob Walker

The Washington Post

Satire is not easy. 1984 was powerful fiction but lousy prognostication. Catch-22 has some wonderful moments but goes on forever. Jennifer Government does just about everything right. It is fast-moving, funny, involving and, if you share Barry's dark view of the corporate ethos, all too serious. — Patrick Anderson

Alan Review - Katrina Nelson

In his book, Max Barry seems to be making the point that anarchy is not freedom. In a time when characters take the last name of the organization they work for and police forces contract killings, Barry creates a materialistic world where money can buy you everything, except justice. In his world, corporations rule and being unemployed is worse than murder. As corporations unite and take on the help of the police and NRA (yes, the NRA!), the government doesn't have the necessary budget to fight them. Barry begins the book with the events that set this in motion. When Jennifer Government, a government agent, is tipped off that a Nike advertising campaign will involve the murder of several people, she sets out to prevent these crimes (crime prevention is in her job description). Along the way the author caricatures the NRA, the police, giant corporations, privatized government agencies, and ineffectual protestors. The sometimes graphic nature of the material in this book and the sophisticated subject matter make it a better read for more mature young adults. 2003, Doubleday, 321 pp., Ages young adult.

Library Journal

Yes, the eponymous heroine really does work for the government. In a world where corporations run everything, even giving employees their surnames, Jennifer steps in to help Hack Nike, who has unwittingly contracted to shoot teenagers wearing a classy brand of sneakers. You weren't expecting anything ordinary from the author of Syrup, were you? Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal