Max Barry is the author of seven novels and the creator of the popular online game NationStates. He also once found a sock full of pennies. He lives in Melbourne, Australia, with his wife and two daughters. Sometimes he coaches kids' netball.

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Sat 07
Dec
2002

The critics speaketh

Jennifer Government Early reviews! The first couple are in and now available in the Reviews section. I’ll add more here as they come in.

In film news, Scott Burns has been hired to write the screenplay. Scott recently adapted another book for Steven Soderbergh, Kurt Eichenwald’s The Informant: A True Story. So I’m guessing the man can write. He’s also something of a legend in the advertising world, with credits including the “Got Milk?” campaign. That won’t go astray with Jennifer Government. The corporate advertising experience, I mean. I have enough milk.

Sat 07
Dec
2002

Aaaargh

Syrup Displaying impeccable timing (with Jennifer Government just six weeks away), Viking (USA) has decided to take Syrup out of print. They’ve even deleted it from their online catalog, so it’s like it never existed. This means unless a bookstore has Syrup on the shelf, they probably can’t get it.

Thanks to those people who have written in about their Herculean struggles to find a copy. It seems that Amazon are out, but Barnes & Noble.com has a few left; apart from that, your best bet is probably picking one up second-hand.

In the long-term, there are two possibilities: either I convince Viking to crank up the presses again, or I get the rights back and find a publisher who will. Since I’m now with Doubleday, this might even work out pretty well.

Tue 12
Nov
2002

We have a mole

Jennifer Government Two sites, Ain’t It Cool News and Cool Happenings Under Development, have published the Jennifer Government blurb, which I reckon they must have cribbed from an advance reader copy. This may or may not be the blurb that appears on the final jacket. But that’s okay, because AICN quotes someone who says the book is “simply awesome.” Oh yeah!

Tue 08
Oct
2002

Audio Jen

Jennifer Government Today I received the script for an audio version of Jennifer Government. Yes, that’s right: if you like to read books without moving your eyes, your prayers have been answered! It’s an abridged version, which as far as I can work out means you get the whole plot but nothing but the plot. This may or may not be a good thing, depending on what you think of my writing.

I won’t be reading it myself. Trust me, this is a good thing. You don’t want to spend four hours figuring out my accent, no matter how sexy and authoritative I sound. And frankly, it’s not that sexy and authoritative. So to hear me in person, you need to turn up at one of my bookstore readings next year. Or else get hold of my home phone number and make prank calls. But don’t do that.

Thu 01
Aug
2002

Redecorating

Jennifer Government I know, I know: the orange web site looked so attractive, too. But the cover is green. So now the site is, too.

The book now has an official on-sale date (in the US, at least): 21 January, 2003. That means you can mark it on your calendar and cross off each day it gets closer. When people ask why you’re so happy, say, “Why, because it’s only 173 more sleeps until Jennifer Government, of course!” That’s what I’m doing, at least.

Thu 01
Aug
2002

Chat with Max

Syrup The Aus Readers Group, a new internet book club, is kicking off with Syrup. So if you’ve ever wanted to debate whether Scat is the quintessential modern man or just an idiot, now’s your chance.

It’s also your opportunity to harass me about how long Jennifer Government’s taking, because at some point I’ll be joining the chat room.

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