Jennifer Government

By: Max Barry

Narrated by: Michael Kramer

Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

The irreverent author of the cult classic Syrup hits his target in this satire on the wages of big capital. In Max Barry's hilarious vision of the near future, the world is run by giant American corporations, and employees take the last names of the companies they work for; The Police and The NRA are publicly traded security firms, and the U.S. government may only investigate crimes if they can bill a citizen directly. When lowly Merchandising Officer Hack Nike unwittingly signs a contract that involves shooting teenagers to build up street credibility for Nike's new line of $2,500 sneakers, he goes to The Police, only to be pursued by Jennifer Government, a tough-talking agent with a bar-code tattoo under her eye, the consumer watchdog from hell.

©2003 Max Barry (P)2003 Books on Tape, Inc.

Critic reviews

"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 Review)

Great

Not as good as Lexicon but definitely worth the read or listen… ha ha ha

OK story

future based on a weird corporate over lord model. interesting concept but reaching to make it work.

Fun Allegory

Perhaps Max Barry might thinks that he has written a brilliant social commentary disguised as a crummy adventure story. It is actually the reverse -- a brilliant action adventure story masquerading as a clumsy social protest.

The overall theme of the book is anti-capitalism. As a theme, I could take it or leave it. Max, however, doesn't execute this theme well. He relies exclusively on hyperbole to criticize. He offers no alternatives. All of the corporations are villain entities. Max seems to have a particular hate-on for the NRA because those characters are consistently both violent and incompetent.

The title character is a very static character, well developed, and fun. Jennifer Government is an investigator who is trying to expose a conspiracy to kill innocents. Her big plot twist is a little predictable, but I still enjoyed how Max brought drove me to that twist in the road. Although a loner by nature, she succeeds in the end only by accepting help from others.

The other lead, Hack Nike, is too dynamic. I don't mind that he experiences character growth, but his change is too sudden. His personality changes to the point of being unrecognizable, seemingly within two short scenes. Had he followed the Hero's Journey formula, I could have shrugged it off, but that simply isn't happening here.

The most fun part for me was the allegoric style. It is an allegory, and almost a classical allegory like Everyman. Characters have metaphoric names like John Nike, Billy NRA, and the Pepsi Kid. My favorite character is the Pepsi Kid, an overly excitable young executive whose name no one can remember.

The adventure takes a varied cast of characters around the globe and through four countries. The climatic action could have been over the proverbial top, but Max writes it with excellent balance of detail and pacing.

Micheal Kramer's reading is great, curiously with an American accent for a Australian cast.

Although problematic, I overall greatly enjoyed it.

Well done but just a bit preachy--

A really good, fun story with real connection to our "real" world. Well narrated but there were points were the political satire/sarcasm became preachy -- not enough to really harm the story -- but it was distracting and thereby detracted from an excellent read-

Not bad, but it's no Snow Crash.

This is an enjoyable story, but the theme of capitalism and marketing taken to the nth degree and even the idea of privatized governments and police services were all done first, better, and with much more humor in Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash.
Nearly every single character is taken advantage of in some way and most are so beaten down and pathetic that it almost doesn't seem to matter who wins in the end. I had no sympathy whatsoever for Jennifer herself. Sure she gets the bad guys, but only because she makes that goal a higher priority than her own child.
I'm not saying Jennifer Government isn't worth the listen, but if you like it then I highly recommend Snow Crash.

Clever and Interesting Plot

The plot is clever and fast-paced. The narrator was very good but the female voices sounded a bit funny. Overall, I would recommend this book. I work on the computer most of the day and this was an enjoyable audiobook to listen to. I work in the marketing field and it's not too far off the mark on how bizarre advertising think can get!

Always love This book

Now my third time through this book and I still love it
One of the only books that compels me to keep listening until it's done.

Capitalism gone nuts!

This is a tale of capitalism gone nuts. There are no taxes. Except for a small token government, everything is private enterprise. The schools are "sponsored" by businesses like Mattel Toys and McDonalds. The police sell their services through slick brochures including murder for hire. Businesses resolve their differences with armies of lawyers and sometimes all out warfare.

People no longer have family names. Their last name is that of their school or their school. It is a high shame to be unemployed and have no last name.

Jennifer Government works for what is left of the government as an investigator. If an aggrieved party has the money to provide a "budget" her department will conduct an investigation and arrest the bad guys. She is also really gifted at bucking that system.

I enjoyed this one. It is worth the read.

All the Years Combine, They Melt into a Dream!

It's hard to take a futuristic novel about privatised mass consumerism seriously when the author's imagination couldn't see past Betamax technology. However Trump wants to use coal so who knows. Come to think of it, I have always been cross that I never got to have a CB handle and must strut ironically into meetings in my leisure suits. I must build a time machine to live the drug fueled insanity of the 70's as an adult just to find out why. Like, can you imagine how much hepatitis and toe fungus grew in those yellah shag carpets? And Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, how does one account for the Pacer, Nixon, Hee Haw, eight tracks, and disco?

Just the Right Amount of Irony

Would you listen to Jennifer Government again? Why?

I liked the book. I thought it drew a very funny caricature of modern life, and what it might look like if taken to ridiculous extremes. It was easy to immerse myself into the story. The theme was clever, and colorful. I really appreciate the authors take on modern culture.

What about Michael Kramer’s performance did you like?

The narrator was perfect for the fast-moving story line.