If you haven't read this or Jennifer Government, do the right thing: read this first! Although not a series, it works better that way...
A light-hearted satirical look at the world of advertising, Syrup isn't weighed down by too much "we'd be so much better off without all this advertising crap" pseudo-philosophical stuff that you may expect from a satire, neither does it really attempt to actually judge the advertising world. I myself, although hardly fond of advertising, see why it is needed (for the jobs it provides if nothing else =+) and that not all advertising is inherently evil.
Anyway, the book is different enough in style (as well as story) from Jennifer Government to warrant reading both - Jennifer Government (from here on in referred to as JG) is set in a not-too-distant future, focuses on a number of main characters, provides a more "us and them" mentality when it comes to big corporations and the rest of the public, but at the same time contradicts this in a number of ways. Syrup, on the other hand, focuses on one main character to begin with, then shortly brings in a second main character, however the focus is not nearly so fractured as in JG, Syrup is set in a non-specific dateline (though could be present-day quite easily) and shows a guy who's not really all that cut out for the world of advertising, trying to scrape and claw his way to the top of the world of advertising, but whilst managing to keep some ethical standards(!), which is what keeps causing him problems. The up-down-up nature of the storyline is broken by the finale just before it gets boring, and the story itself focuses more on the personal side of the characters, wrapped in the world of advertising, rather than the other way round. Well worth a read.
BTW, that "Maxx Barry" was meant to be the author's attempt to make one final joke. The actual author is Max Barry and if you read this book, you should see why he did it...
"A sinister cabal of superior writers."
Article comments