Atog wrote:The Angsty State of Emoslavia
What is the book on, anyways?
I'm about halfway through it. So far it’s about a future earth where government is nearly irrelevant and corporations and corporate alliances rule the planet. The U.S. version of Capitalism has “taken over” about 2/3 of the planet, with various pockets of independence like the European Union and China maintaining independence.
On that backdrop we have Nike, who has decided to market their latest and greatest shoe by refusing to sell it for six months. Now that the six months have gone by, the story begins when two guys from Marketing, John & John (no, they’re not Giants), recruit some idiot from Merchandising for some extra curricular activity to give the shoes “street cred.” The book is about what the Merc guy does (and doesn’t do), all the while being hounded by Jennifer, a government operative.
People’s identity in this book are entirely wrapped up in their corporate alliances, so both Johns are John Nike, the Merc guy is Hack Nike, we have another character named Buy Mitsui, and Jennifer, being a government operative, is of course named Jennifer Government.
It’s fast, it’s interesting, but I’d wait for the mass-market paperback or check it out from the library. It’s not a must-read.