Jennifer Government
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| Jennifer Government | |
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| Author | Max Barry |
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| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Dystopian novel |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
| Publication date | January 21, 2003 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover & paperback) & e-book |
| Pages | 336 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-385-50759-3 (hardcover) |
Jennifer Government is a novel written by Max Barry. Published in 2003, it is Barry's second novel, following 1999's Syrup. The novel is set in a dystopian alternate reality in which most nations (now controlled by the United States) are dominated by for-profit corporate entities while the Government's[1] power is extremely limited. It is similar in satiric intent to George Orwell's 1984, but criticizes the concept of a government with too little power, rather than one with too much. Because of this, some readers see the novel as a criticism of libertarianism. Many readers also see it as a criticism of globalization, although Barry claims he is not an anti-globalizationist.[2]
The novel was titled Logoland for the German and Italian editions. The Brazilian edition was titled EU S/A, translated as Me, Inc. but, can be seen as an abbreviation of Estados Unidos Sociedade Anônima, which roughly translates to United States, Inc. in English.[3]
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[edit] Setting
The story takes place several years (what year exactly is never mentioned) after the United States has taken over the entire Western Hemisphere (except for Cuba), South Africa, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Iceland, India, Japan, South Korea, Oceania, Thailand, Myanmar, and (most recently) Australia. Russia is said to be affiliated with the US, but not fully absorbed; whether or not Russia actually belongs to the US is not explained. With so much land under the US's control, international trade becomes no longer needed, and thus the US cuts itself off from countries that it has not yet taken over. Amongst these other countries is the European Union, which is thought of by Americans to be "socialist." The language of all US lands is now "American", the language formerly known as English (only American English is spoken now; British English and the British accent no longer exist).
Either before or after this takeover, taxation is abolished, which eventually leads to the U.S. adopting what is referred to as "capitalizm" (similar to anarcho-capitalism with a few differences). In this new state, the Government is privatized, having to do work only within its budget. This makes the Government unable to write new laws or even hold elections, leaving it with its only job being the prevention of crime. Crimes can also be solved, but the Governments' budget only covers retaliatory investigations if the Government can be paid by the victim or the victim's family.
Outside of the Government there are two other military organizations of power: the Police and the NRA. The Police has since become privatized, having been reduced to a combination of law enforcement and mercenary agency, and is only involved when contracted by interested parties. Meanwhile, the NRA has become a complete mercenary-for-hire organization able to deploy a fully equipped military force.
Most large corporations are now allied into one of two massive customer loyalty programs, US Alliance and Team Advantage, which compete fiercely with each other. US Alliance members include Nike, IBM, Pepsi, McDonald's, and the NRA. Team Advantage members include the Police, ExxonMobil, Burger King, and Apple Computer.
People now take the surnames of the corporations they work for, and a person with two jobs hyphenates their name (e.g. Julia Nike-McDonalds). Charity workers can also use their charity's name in a hyphenated surname. Schools are now sponsored and controlled by corporations, such as McDonald's and Mattel. Though little is said of the education given at them, it is hinted that much of it is corporate propaganda. Children who attend school are given the corporate sponsor's name as a surname, but are parenthesized with their parents' employers in school directories, such as "Kate Mattel (Government)."
Other notable aspects of society include pre-payment before ambulances can be dispatched, the abolishment of welfare, total deregulation of weapons, legalized drugs sold in supermarkets, and privately owned roads with charged access.
[edit] Plot summary
As part of a scheme hatched by the ambitious marketing executive John Nike, a lower-level merchandising worker named Hack Nike is unwittingly contracted to kill at least ten teenagers and steal their new Nike Mercury sneakers priced at $2,500 a pair (and costing 85 cents to manufacture) in an effort to improve the "street cred" of the shoe and send demand for them through the roof. Unable to bring himself to perform the hit himself, he subcontracts to the Police who themselves subcontract it to the NRA and the plan goes awry. The parents of one of the victims, a schoolgirl named Hayley McDonald's, are willing to pay for the retributive investigation headed by Jennifer Government, a Government agent with a barcode tattoo under her left eye and fueled by a personal score to settle.
[edit] Characters in "Jennifer Government"
- Jennifer Government - A Government agent with a barcode tattoo under her left eye, Jen has a personal vendetta against John Nike, with whom she once had a relationship, as well as a daughter. Formerly a successful member of the advertising world, she abandoned her career after she learned she was pregnant.
- Hack Nike (later simply Hack) - A merchandising officer for Nike. After being coerced into signing a contract to kill teenagers for John Nike's new marketing plan, Hack accidentally sets off a domino effect of crime. Though not a very assertive person at first, he becomes a threat to Nike later on when he joins an anti-corporate terrorist group in order to get back at Nike.
- John Nike - Vice president of marketing for Nike and the novel's antagonist. John initially sets out to improve sales of Nike Mercurys; later, he sets out a plan to destroy the Government in an attempt to make large corporations the only ruling power in the world.
- Violet (later Violet ExxonMobil) - Hack's self-employed girlfriend. Violet sets out to sell a computer virus to ExxonMobil, officially to test the corporations computer defensive systems, but becomes caught up in the fight between US Alliance and Team Advantage when she is contracted to use her virus in an attack against rival corporations.
- Billy Bechtel (later Billy NRA) - A fired construction worker who wants nothing but to be able to go skiing. In his attempts to go on vacation Billy joins the NRA, where he is mistaken for a more experienced field operative named Bill NRA and forced into several extremely dangerous assignments that he just barely survives. Despite being a very skilled sharpshooter, Billy is unwilling to kill anyone and is repeatedly apprehended by the Government, which attempts to use him to infiltrate the NRA; in turn the NRA does the same, only to accidentally allow him to escape.
- Buy Mitsui - A stockbroker who is having doubts about his job and his life. Originally from the European Union, Buy (who changed his name from Jean-Paul upon moving to the USA) is a witness to the first Nike shootings; his accidental and indirect involvement in the death of one of the victims gives him the impression that nothing he will be able to do in his life afterwards will amount to anything of any importance. He becomes depressed and suicidal as a result. Unable to release the safety on a gun he purchased his suicide attempt is foiled, and he contacts Jennifer Government for information on how to use the gun. Jennifer takes pity on him and they become romantically involved as a result, causing Buy to be dragged into the battle between Jennifer and John Nike.
[edit] Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
To help promote the novel, Barry created a spin-off browser-based game entitled Jennifer Government: NationStates, in which players run their own countries. The game is very loosely based on the novel, containing none of its storyline.
In 2001, the film rights were optioned to Section 8, a production company owned by Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney. In 2005, Louis Mellis and Dave Scinto, writers of Sexy Beast, were chosen by Clooney and Soderbergh to write the screenplay. Alias TV star Jennifer Garner expressed interest in playing the titular character in the movie or even television adaptation, although Barry himself has said his primary choice for the role would be Nicole Kidman.[4]
In 2006 Max Barry reported in his blog that due to the closure of Section 8 the film rights to Jennifer Government had been returned to him, though he remained hopeful that Clooney's next studio project Smoke House Productions would look into optioning the rights again. As of December 2007 the future of the film adaptation is unknown, though the Internet Movie Database reports a 2010 release date for the film.
[edit] Editions
- ISBN 0-385-50759-3 (hardcover, 2003)
- ISBN 1-4000-3092-7 (paperback, 2004)
- ISBN 1-4000-7634-X (e-book, 2004)
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ As all non-charity organizations in the book have been privatized, the government and all former government controlled organizations' names are now capitalized as for-profit corporations' names are.
- ^ Barry, Max. "On Capitalism and Corporatism". MaxBarry.com. January 20, 2005.
- ^ Barry, Max. "Jen in Brazil". MaxBarry.com. June 7, 2005.
- ^ Interview with Max Barry by Dennis Widmyer at The Cult - ChuckPalahniuk.net
[edit] References
In addition, the following version of the novel was used as a reference for this article:
- Barry, Max. Jennifer Government. New York: Vintage, 2004. ISBN 1-4000-3092-7
[edit] External links
