REVIEW: Santa Monica Mirror

Julie Fiedler
September 15-21, 1999 (vol 1, iss13)

A New L.A. Novel

“Syrup” by Australian writer Maxx Barry is one of the funniest, hippest and all-round entertaining novels I’ve read in a long time. Barry has an uncanny sense of comedic timing, the likes of which I’ve never seen so well-executed in the written word.

“Syrup” is a wonderfully rendered, over the top, rollicking good read. At its heart is an unlikely duo on the fringes of L.A.’s marketing and entertainment worlds.

Run, don’t walk to your favorite bookstore (Dutton’s) to pick up a copy, but be warned. It’s Barry’s first novel, so if you thirst for more, you’ll have to wait.