Dude, I totally got the point after about ten pages. Talk about beating a dead horse. ( )

A unique work of fiction of corporate America run amok. It was a fun read. ( )

I really enjoyed some of the ideas in this book-- particularly the corporate surnames-- but the story was mostly flat and unengaging. None of the characters were particularly interesting or memorable. ( )

I had marked another of Barry's novels to read some time ago and never gotten around to it, and the premise of this book was even more compelling. I'm generally a fan of dystopian science fiction, though, so this was almost guaranteed to be an enjoyable read. Still Jennifer Government provides a compelling...and extremely timely...story.

The setting is a near future in which America has overtaken a number of other countries and thus spread the dominance of a handful of major corporations through most of the world. Taxes in American countries are no more, and an impotent government that relies on fundraising struggles to police the law against corporate forces, such as the ubiquitous NRA, which have the freedom to do whatever they like in pursuit of profit, including murder. In this future, people are born with no last names. Their identity is entirely associated with the corporation for which they work, and they take on the company's name as their last name upon employment. Children take on the last name of the corporation sponsoring the school which they attend. Being un-employed, or self-employed, leaves one with no name, no identity. One's life is entirely dependent upon being consumed by a corporation.

I should point out that, while dystopian, this is a comedy, and Barry's dry wit is present throughout the story. Characters, such as Billy NRA, find themselves in outright hysterical situations that leave the reader laughing while unable to escape the nagging through-line woven into the setting of every scene.

Not that the through-line is at all subtle. And, as comedic are the scenarios in which our characters find themselves, the development and internal lives of the characters are often flat, and certainly secondary to the story. The point of this novel isn't the characters, nor is it so much the plot, but rather the world which is its setting, and, while this sounds as though it would be completely dysfunctional and without any chance of working, it keeps the reader turning the pages with a surprising amount of engagement.

Barry's writing style is quick, overly abrupt in places, and this is one of the most prominent criticisms that I've read in other reviews. As this is the first of his work that I've read, I can't speak to whether or not this is his writing style, but it seems as though it's a device in itself to place the reader into this comically frightening world.

Many would discard this novel as an anti-capitalist diatribe, but doing so misses something deeper going on here. The future in which Barry places his reader is one in which there is no room for thinking against conventional wisdom. Critical thought has been over-run by marketing. Taking time to think, or to live or care for one's loved ones, means that one is not being productive in one's employment. Propaganda rules, and different ways of thinking are not tolerated. In its absolute freedom, society has paradoxically given up its soul.

This is a light and quick read, but one that will continue stay present in your mind, and in your perception, in troubling ways long after you've finished laughing your way through its pages. Considering the climate in which we live, the setting of this novel, which becomes its own character in many ways, is a warning not only of what is to come, but of what has already arrived. While a bit heavy-handed at times, this is still a worthwhile read for anyone who would like to have their thoughts provoked. ( )

ETA: We finished the audiobook this weekend. I think that it was a really great book. The characters really drew me in and I love a good story with multiple (likeable) characters to follow. It starts strong and keeps going throughout the novel.

We're listening to this on audiobook and it's awesome. The stories in the book really draw you in. Attention-keeper. ( )