Reviews of movies, music, books and more by David Goody.

Thursday, August 25, 2005

Books: Jennifer Government by Max Barry

Any book that has a quote by Naomi Klein, the author of No Logo, on the front is unlikely to be wholly positive about corporations. Such is the case with Jennifer Government, an action satire set in the near future where Mattel runs schools, people use their employers name as their surname and where the government has little say in the way the world is run. The book follows Jennifer Government as she tries to nail ego-maniac marketing executive John Nike for the murder of 14 children as a publicity stunt for a new pair of trainers.

The book flings it's characters around global locations and into pitched battles with big explosions and entertaining cynical views of the future. While this cavalcade of ideas and events makes the book an effective page turner the characters acquire little depth along the way, something not helped by their brand named based monikers. If you like cocking a snook at the big bad capitalist world and don't mind some cliches along the way Jennifer Government makes for an entertaining light read.

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