Roam Free, My Novel
Oh, it’s a red-letter day in the Barry household. My third novel, Company, goes on sale today. It’s also my 13th wedding anniversary. (Yep, teen bridegroom. What? It’s not so weird. It is not.) And—and—my baby girl just rolled from her back onto her front! Yes! Big achievements all round!
Somewhat scarily, the first week or two will largely determine whether Company is a sales success or not. If it starts strong, bookstores will leave it placed up the front of the store, or include it in special deals. But otherwise, it’s a quick one-way trip to the jungles of General Fiction. You don’t have long to establish yourself as a winner on those New Fiction shelves, no sir, and there’s a long line of up-and-comers ready to steal your shoes. So good luck, little Company.
I found three new reviews today: a nice capsule from People Magazine (“biting, hilarious”) and two rippers from Entertainment Weekly and Forbes. What I especially love is that both decline to give away the book’s big twist, something I thought no reviewer would be able to resist. But EW says:
To disclose what occurs after page 80 would rob any enjoyment from the book. It’s that twist that saves Barry’s third novel from becoming as drab as the office he describes and establishes him as one of the keenest and shrewdest minds in corporate satire. Utterly original… A-.
while Forbes pumps me right up:
Barry’s accomplished an impossible feat—he’s written three books without succumbing to a sophomore slump. Insightful and devlish… if you’re reading a management book right now, any management book, put it down and get this instead.
I’m building a collection of links to reviews that don’t contain big spoilers in the Company Reviews section.
And for those who want a little taste before plumping their hard-earned, I’ve just posted an extract from Chapter One. Enjoy! (I hope.)
Comments
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JacksSmirkingRevenge (#1324)
Location: That place where Billy Elliot was comitted, England
Quote: "What can the harvest hope for if not for the care of the reaper man?"
Posted: 6645 days ago
JacksSmirkingRevenge (#1324)
Location: That place where Billy Elliot was comitted, England
Quote: "What can the harvest hope for if not for the care of the reaper man?"
Posted: 6645 days ago
Alex (#237)
Location: London, England
Quote: "We're today's scrambled creatures, locked in tomorrow's double feature (Bowie)"
Posted: 6645 days ago
Hang on that sentence didn't make sense! It must be a typo....I'll carry on. Hey! The story doesn't make sense now! I look at the page number. 53! YES....53! My copy of the book jumps from page 20 straight through to 53.
Ah it'll be a clever gimmick by Max to confuse and delight his readers....If only *sob*
Now I'll have to wait for the book to come out properly in the UK and keep this copy as a treasured mis-printed copy.
Or sell it on e-bay as a rare collector's edition???
Who knows?
Drunkendove (#2064)
Location: Neither here nor there.
Quote: "An altogether admirable attempt at alliteration, and although ample accidental additions are assured, all are accessory."
Posted: 6645 days ago
Also, will you be updating the Q&A section under "Max"? Because it still says that you're working on your secret third novel. The secret is kinda out now.
Max
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Quote: "I'm my number one fan!"
Posted: 6645 days ago
Alex, you should definitely tell Amazon (or whoever) that you got a dodgy book. They'll replace it for free.
The book is only out in the US & Canada at this stage... see the "Buy" page for details, but basically no other country has a publisher with a confirmed pub date yet.
Danni (#357)
Location: England
Quote: "Eagerly awaiting the European Tour."
Posted: 6645 days ago
(Max, how dare you put teasers up on your site! I couldn't resist, and now I want more!)
Devin (#100)
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Quote: ""Toast sweat! It's the scourge of our time!""
Posted: 6644 days ago
Xpovos (#958)
Location: Washington D.C.
Quote: "Time not important, only life important"
Posted: 6644 days ago
Scott (#354)
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Quote: "Max Barry tastes like awesome"
Posted: 6644 days ago
Alex (#237)
Location: London, England
Quote: "We're today's scrambled creatures, locked in tomorrow's double feature (Bowie)"
Posted: 6644 days ago
Fingers crossed that this one has ALL the pages!
:O)
Wolfgang (#1368)
Location: Berlin, Germany
Posted: 6644 days ago
I got it from amazon.de on Saturday (ordered it in August, I think) - complete, with all pages :-) - and had it read by early Monday morning.
What's in store for number four? When will I be able to order it? Any idea yet? I'm being greedy, I know, sorry ;-)
Adam (#24)
Location: Morristown, Indiana
Quote: "Why do I blog? Simple, because Max Barry blogs."
Posted: 6644 days ago
A LOYAL FRIEND AND FAN...MORE OR LESS.
First of all, a few months ago on this site. Someone offered a free ARC of company. They did not want to make any profit off selling it. They put a comment on "the Block" blog. I couldn't resist!
Now, today,as I lay sickly on my own bed, I must go out and buy this book to support Max Barry. I also have to take one of my friends from school, Matthew(16). I already own the ARC, and I have read it.
Company is infinitely excellent. I know it will be a good buy.
Hopefully, my parents will let me drive to the nearest bookstore to get it. I am not at school right now due to my illness.
-adam
PS If my mug and poster arrive today...it will be the best day ever!
Darwinsduck (#2077)
Location: SC, USA
Posted: 6644 days ago
1. You use the word "sacked" a lot to mean terminated from a job. In the U.S., which is where the story is taking place, we use the word "fired" more the sacked. Like Donld Trump, "You're Fired!" Sacked seems to be more of a British, or Australian, word.
2. At one point, not wanting to spoil anything, you have some people talking about their CV, and not putting a reference on it. I am not sure what CV stands for, but from the context I take it to mean a resume, something you send to company's to apply for a job.
But none of these take away from my enjoyment so far, keep up the great work.
Earl Mayer (#2078)
Location: Paris, France
Quote: ""On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog.""
Posted: 6644 days ago
I enjoyed that little piece of Company online but hope the whole book isn't just about office fights, but Max is a plot mastermind so I give him all my trust.
Good Luck for the sales - hope you won't have to create a new game to make them happen - though I do enjoy NS :)
Bony Tony (#1343)
Location: United States
Posted: 6644 days ago
Zoomy (#1546)
Location: Outside Glasgow
Posted: 6644 days ago
Picto (#64)
Location: United Kingdom
Quote: "Who is more foolish, the child afraid of the dark or the man afraid of the light? - Maurice Freehill"
Posted: 6644 days ago
English publishers suck. :-(
And yes, Darwinsduck, CV is similar to what you call a resume/résumé, and it stands for Curriculum Vitae.
Robert (#413)
Location: Los Angeles
Quote: "A positive attitude will not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort."
Posted: 6644 days ago
P.S. There have already been a few comments on the cover from the people who've seen it.
Keith Dotson (#1697)
Location: Detroit, Mi
Quote: ""I like to use 'I Can't Believe it's Not Butter' on my toast in the morning, because sometimes when I eat breakfast, I like to be incredulous. How was breakfast? Unbelievable." --Demetri Martin"
Posted: 6644 days ago
PS - Love The Back Cover Memo
JacksSmirkingRevenge (#1324)
Location: That place where Billy Elliot was comitted, England
Quote: "What can the harvest hope for if not for the care of the reaper man?"
Posted: 6644 days ago
Tom Foley (#1008)
Location: Seattle
Posted: 6644 days ago
Paul (#104)
Location: Connecticut, USA
Quote: ""Don't fight it son. Confess quickly! If you hold out too long you could jeopardize your credit rating. " --Brazil (1985 movie)"
Posted: 6644 days ago
Paul (#104)
Location: Connecticut, USA
Quote: ""Don't fight it son. Confess quickly! If you hold out too long you could jeopardize your credit rating. " --Brazil (1985 movie)"
Posted: 6644 days ago
Company has made the February 2006 Booksense Notables list:
http://www.bookweb.org/graphics/BookSense/picks/Feb2006.pdf
(bottom left of page 1)
Congrats!
Geoffrey Atkins (#858)
Location: Omaha, NE
Quote: "these nights are already long. and if i last through the winter. i swear to you now i won't call. --Circa Survive"
Posted: 6644 days ago
Kalle (#1278)
Quote: "Sex is herital. If your parents never had it, chanses are you'll never have it either."
Posted: 6644 days ago
Anita Heiney (#292)
Location: Richmond, VA USA
Quote: "I came. I signed up. I got an error."
Posted: 6644 days ago
Congrats on the baby rolling over. I was afraid it might have "the big head" like you and never be able to accomplish this feat.
Ciao!
James W. G. Ford (#1437)
Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Quote: "Never allow yourself to be limited by tradition. If we all did that, we'd still live in caves."
Posted: 6644 days ago
Jarrad (#837)
Location: Hobart
Posted: 6644 days ago
Says the book may not get to Australia until mid-Feb
AAHHHH
Tim Hodge (#1275)
Location: Canberra
Quote: "My copy of Syrup is made from magic paper."
Posted: 6644 days ago
Oh well, off to Amazon to select the lightspeed shipping, then. Bugger.
Mapuche (#1184)
Location: Darwin, Australia
Quote: "Inconceivable!"
Posted: 6644 days ago
The following items were included in this shipment:
------------------------------------------------------------
Qty Item
------------------------------------------------------------
1 Syrup
1 Company : A Novel
------------------------------------------------------------
Heheheheh
Matthew (#16)
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Quote: "Unicorn on mountain top. Wind blowing through mane."
Posted: 6644 days ago
I feel weak...need....Company...
Nice picture in the EW review, Max.
Rod McBride (#688)
Location: Gardner, KS
Quote: "www.MidwestRockLobster.blogspot.com"
Posted: 6644 days ago
I got mine ahead of the official release date by ordering it through a Borders. I guess until you get to the J.K. Rowling level they don't use lay down dates to keep the book from getting out early.
The book totally hijacked me for about 24 hours. I did little but read 'Company' until I finished it, and being a slow reader it's highly unusual for me to finish a novel, even a short one, that fast. That's a double-edged sword because after waiting forever to read another Max Barry novel, I've done the equivalent of eating all the trick-or-treat candy on Halloween night and have to wait an impossible stretch for the next one.
Austin (#814)
Quote: "You might be stretching."
Posted: 6644 days ago
Marzouq (#2083)
Location: Kuwait
Posted: 6644 days ago
w3a2 (#2084)
Location: SA
Quote: "Arguing on the internet is like arguing on the internet."
Posted: 6644 days ago
and i'll have to buy it i suppose
Emmaus (#1692)
Location: North Carolina, USA
Quote: "How much deeper would the ocean be without sponges?"
Posted: 6644 days ago
Tomben (#2086)
Location: Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.
Posted: 6644 days ago
Just got done with Company. Nicely done, if a little disconcerning for those of us who have worked in a sprawling IT company.
Did Syrup get re-released in paperback in the US? I'm seeing copies of it in stores now, whereas a year or so ago I couldn't find any locally.
Tom
marcie (#1987)
Location: staten island, new york
Quote: ""it's up to me now, turn on the bright lights""
Posted: 6643 days ago
i didn't want to finish it that fast yet.
but what i HAVE read, i absolutely love. congratulations.
you did it again. =D
i wish you all the success with this book.
Jason (#1193)
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Quote: "The bulwark of the suggestion box has failed."
Posted: 6643 days ago
Great work!
James (#1739)
Location: Los Gatos, CA
Quote: "I am a silly."
Posted: 6643 days ago
I've been a fan for a while, Max, and I look forward to reading the new book, if for no other reason because it means I'm not sitting in my cubicle trying to convince my boss (and myself) that I can write Perl scripts.
~james,
(^-- Written from work when I should be coding.)
Justin Holt (#147)
Location: Rochester, NY
Quote: "www.justinholt.net"
Posted: 6643 days ago
Love what I've read so far...
Travis Emergency (#2071)
Location: New York
Posted: 6643 days ago
I'm very happy about that, as the book is awesome.
Daniel Short (#257)
Location: Oklahoma, USA
Quote: "Hehe"
Posted: 6643 days ago
JacksSmirkingRevenge (#1324)
Location: That place where Billy Elliot was comitted, England
Quote: "What can the harvest hope for if not for the care of the reaper man?"
Posted: 6643 days ago
Xpovos (#958)
Location: Washington D.C.
Quote: "Time not important, only life important"
Posted: 6642 days ago
Amina (#2094)
Location: Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia, USA
Quote: ""Thank God for tea! What would the world do without tea? How did it exist? I am glad I was not born before tea." Sidney Smith"
Posted: 6642 days ago
So congratulations, Max, on all of the milestones and breakthroughs in your household this week, and thank you, thank you! for a respite from the bitter cold wind outside that keeps knocking out our electricity.
Paul Rice (#2097)
Location: Allston, Massachusetts USA
Quote: ""Will you still know who are when you come to who you are?""
Posted: 6642 days ago
Stephanie (#2098)
Location: United States
Quote: "Going crazy. Care to join me?"
Posted: 6642 days ago
Bushra (#36)
Location: Fremont, California
Quote: "www.caffeinatedmuslim.com"
Posted: 6642 days ago
Anyways, I like the book so far. I might make my manager read it.
Paul (#104)
Location: Connecticut, USA
Quote: ""Don't fight it son. Confess quickly! If you hold out too long you could jeopardize your credit rating. " --Brazil (1985 movie)"
Posted: 6642 days ago
Michael Fiedler (#1318)
Location: Lincoln, NE
Posted: 6642 days ago
Melinda Kovac (#583)
Location: South Australia
Quote: "Nothing says feminine like a burping contest"
Posted: 6642 days ago
Joseph (#1825)
Location: Jeffersonville, Indiana, USA
Quote: "With a gun barrel between your teeth, you speak only in vowels."
Posted: 6641 days ago
Jason (#1193)
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Quote: "The bulwark of the suggestion box has failed."
Posted: 6641 days ago
Also hyped your other books to the owner of the local store in town, Big Hat. She seemed intrigued by your stuff so hopefully she gets Syrup and Jennifer Gov't in now, too.
Laurie (#127)
Location: Wauconda, IL
Posted: 6641 days ago
It didn't end the way I expected, which makes it that much better. I very much enjoy surprise endings.
Why no mention of Finlay? Did you really have to submit the Acknowledgements that long ago? And no new picture? I really do feel depraved in that regards- I only know of like two pictures of you- and one is just your head. We want more Max!
(By the way, Company wasn't out in the New Fiction section at the local Borders, but I made the woman who helped me find it feel quite inferior as she didn't know who you were... imagine, not knowing Max Barry!)
Keep up the great work!
Greg Karber (#1568)
Location: gregkarber.com
Posted: 6640 days ago
Travis Emergency (#2071)
Location: New York
Posted: 6640 days ago
My local Barnes & Nobel had about five copies, in the New Fiction section, allthough that section is downstairs.
Steven Bateman (#1590)
Location: Rathdrum, ID
Quote: "If two hurricanes chase you around, you should just give up. It's Zeus trying to murder you with hammers."
Posted: 6639 days ago
It's... great. I loved it. Oh, and Stephanie, if you haven't found one yet, check your local Hastings. Their shipments are delayed, so they should be getting them in either next week or mid-Feb, depending on which rep I spoke with wasn't drunk.
With that said... what's your next one? :D
rasmus (#2112)
Posted: 6639 days ago
rasmus (#2112)
Posted: 6639 days ago
Unfree People (#206)
Location: Guadalajara, Mexico
Quote: "Freedom Reigns! except where it's important..."
Posted: 6639 days ago
Wolfgang (#1368)
Location: Berlin, Germany
Posted: 6639 days ago
Have you tried www.amazon.fr? Shipping within France should be free there with the book priced at about 20 Euros. Or isn't Nice where you live, anymore? You might want to try amazon-Marketplaces then (best at .com) - rates and shipping can be cheaper than with amazon itself (as long as you live in an "Amazon payment country" or whatever they call it). Finally, couldn't your bookshop order it from the US for you? Anyway, good luck - and in any case, Company would even be worth bucketloads of shipping money ;)
Paul (#104)
Location: Connecticut, USA
Quote: ""Don't fight it son. Confess quickly! If you hold out too long you could jeopardize your credit rating. " --Brazil (1985 movie)"
Posted: 6638 days ago
Amazon:
Adobe Reader: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000E6FZC8/ref=ed_oe_d/002-3812595-6569638?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance
Microsoft Reader: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000E6FZAA/ref=ed_oe_d/002-3812595-6569638?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance
(both $12.21)
eBooks: http://www.ebooks.com/ebooks/book_display.asp?IID=231243
Adober Reader, Microsoft Reader, or Mobipocket Reader
(each $17.95)
Powells:
Adobe Reader: http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=91-0385517580-0
Microsoft Reader: http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=92-0385517580-0
Palm Reader: http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=93-0385517580-0
(each $14.36)
Aaron Doucet (#733)
Location: Canada (Sorry)
Quote: "He'd never seen so many expensive pairs of shoes in one place."
Posted: 6637 days ago
What also amazes me is that your writing style has changed throughout your three books yet they still manage to be awesome.
Noemi (#1850)
Location: California, USA
Quote: ""Not a shred of evidence exists in favor of the idea that life is serious. " - Brendan Gill"
Posted: 6636 days ago
Mark (#2122)
Location: Seattle
Posted: 6628 days ago
Chas (#537)
Location: Free Country USA
Quote: "./configure, make, make install."
Posted: 6624 days ago
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