Jennifer Government by Max Barry

I first ran into Jennifer Government by Max Barry through his web-based videogame, NationStates, but never got around to reading it until a couple days ago. It’s a dystopian science fiction novel where corporations rule the roost. People have corporations as their last names (John Nike, Frank Microsoft) to let people know who they work for. Except for people who work for the government, hence the Jennifer of the title. I thought there were some fun ideas here and it’s interesting to read early 2000s science fiction when commonly available cell phones are still treated in a science fictional way. I found it charming in its idealism, ironically. Idealistic in the way that people find comfort and connection in their personal relationships. Idealistic in the way that the villain is held to account. Idealistic in its madcap, anticorporate energy. We could use a little more anticorporate energy these days.