About this title: In his satire set in a future world, Hack Nike works for a marketing firm that talks him into killing teenagers as part of an ad campaign for sneakers. When he tries to enlist the police on his side, he becomes the target of Jennifer Government, an agent who is determined to eliminate Hack's boss and possibly Hack himself. A New York Times Notable Book for 2003.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Description: Very Good. 0349117624 Very Good-An excellent copy. Softcover. Pages sharp and clean. No marks or highlighting in text. Faint creasing on the spine and the front cover corner tips. Cover lays flat. This book has NOT been marked as a remainder by the publisher. Accurate Descriptions with Fast Shipping and Robust Packaging. WHT104S. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. 0385507593 Former library item may have library binding and show stamps, stickers or other marks. Items not meeting quality expectations may be returned. Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. read more
Description: Good. 2003-Paperback----Used-Good-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Vintage Contemporaries
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9781400030927ISBN:1400030927
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Very slight shelf wear to cover. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 321 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Abacus, U.K.
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780349117621ISBN:0349117624
Description: Fair. No dust jacket as issued. Some creasing of outer page edges, shelf wear. Tight spine, intact. Trade paperback. Glued binding. 335 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
"Like much speculative fiction, the premise is better than the execution, but the premise isn't even that great. This might have seemed edgy at one time, but after having explored the extreme anti-corporate culture a bit in college - you know, the "Ad Busters" phase that many of us go through - it's more tired and played out than anything else.
Any number of anti-corporate narratives are more satisfying and feature people you can actually care about: Mirror's Edge or Jet-Set Radio Future to name a couple video games, or the film Michael Clayton. In contrast, Jennifer Government is populated by shells. I can actually hardly remember where the main protagonist ends up at the end, and I just finished reading the book less than four hours ago."
"I would really love it if this book was made into a movie. It has just the right amount of action to make a lot of fun things blow up.
It is the consumerist future. Taxes have been abolished. Your identity is defined by the company for which you work. Hack Nike isn't so bright, so when he's approached by the VP of Nike's Marketing department (one of two John Nikes) with an offer he can't refuse, he doesn't realize it's a trap.
Nike's campaign? To make their newest line more desirable, Nike just asks that Hack kill a few people. Just ten or so. No big deal.
Jennifer Government gets a tip on the shootings, but fails to apprehend the perp, but she knows who she's really after--the brains behind the scheme, someone against whom she has a personal vendetta."
"This book was one of those impulse buys where you're standing around in the store and something about the cover just jumps out at you. I certainly don't regret this purchase. I took a break from my serious non-fiction to read some serious fiction.
The story takes place in the near future, but there's nothing fantastic about the technology or culture. Well, except one little thing: capitalism has run rampant, companies are ganging up against each other like warring states and the government has been reduced to a largely ignored institution that must beg for money from victims before crimes can be investigated. Author Max Barry has developed a globe mostly consumed by the United States and its territories. Only a few "socialist" European nations still have any sort of taxes and social support structures. Where you work and how much money you make has become of such importance that employees now take their company names as their surname. So our title character, Jennifer Government, is a government agent.
The scary thing about this book is the reality of how close to this sort of society we could quite possibly come. (Minus the surname thing, I think.) I see elements of the behaviors of characters and companies described in this book in the news everyday. It's certainly an eerie read.
As for the story itself: I liked it. It's a fast-paced and well-written cop story, really. The characters are generally well developed (you know they're good when you want to shake them and/or scream at them) and I think that, for the most part, their interactions are true to their characters and to the story. There were only a few plot elements that were a little predictable and a few moments that were pretty clear set-ups. It makes up for those easily with some clever twists that I certainly didn't see coming. The author mentions in the acknowledgments at the end of the story that there was another major character that he decided to cut and I can't help but wonder who and how they fit into the story.
In conclusion, I would recommend it to anyone. Not to mention the cover art is just damn cool."
"A book to read in the bathtub, or as I used to call it when I worked in hospitals, "night shift reading"--something to keep you awake, but easy to put down if there's a need for your services. Jennifer Government is science fiction even if you find it shelved as literature. It's a fast read, entertaining enough, light on characterization and plot. When I say "light on plot," I mean that although events unfold and resolve, the reader is left with a sense of hollowness and many questions. Jennifer's tattoo, for example, poses a question that is answered but not well enough to justify its existence except as a flourish. Since much of William Gibson's oeuvre takes on corporations and their power, one might do better to look there instead for a more satisfying and complex exploration of these issues."
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