The Capital Times, January 29, 2004

Sometimes, as they say, the truth really is stranger than fiction. In a recent telephone interview, author Max Barry told me that the idea for his novel "Jennifer Government" (Vintage, $12.95) came when (and he swears this part is true) he was reading some of his economic textbooks left over from his university days.

"I was surprised really by how pro-capitalist they were," he said, adding that during his college years, he was leftist through and through and considered capitalism right-wing propaganda.

Age mellows us, of course, so Barry was a little more receptive to the idea that capitalism isn't all bad. The textbooks got him thinking, and he started doing some research about capitalism in all its permutations. This led him to libertarian groups that are convinced that corporate control of private life is the next logical step. On their Web sites, these groups mapped out their ideal corporately controlled world.

"I found it equal parts hilarious and frightening," he recalled. "That's where I got the rules (for my world in "Jennifer Government") from."

Barry didn't set out to write a literary-satirical-science fiction novel. He wanted to tell the story of an ultra-privatized modern world in which corporations have ascended to ultimate power - a sort of alternative present in which everything the reader knows and understands about reality is just a little different. (For example, everyone takes their company's name as their own last name and the National Rifle Association is a publicly traded securities firm.)

"I didn't want to set the story in a world with flying cars and laser guns," he said. "I didn't really realize I was writing science fiction until halfway through."

Typically, the "alternative present" and the "near future" are the domain of fantasy and science fiction writers, but Barry's odd world in "Jennifer Government" is just enough like our own to appeal to readers of literary fiction while grabbing the attention of sci-fi fans.

The story centers around the hapless Hack Nike, a low-level merchandising officer at Nike, who gets drawn into an illegal scheme to sell a new line of running shoes. His illicit work draws the attention of the fearsome Jennifer Government, a consumer watchdog agent with an agenda all her own.

The story's crossover appeal is powerful. Last week, Borders Books announced the novel had made the list of finalists for its 2003 Original Voices award, and early on, George Clooney and Steven Soderberg optioned the novel's film rights.

All of that attention is gratifying for Barry, but he had a reason for writing the book: He wanted to point out that while capitalism is a good thing, there's a reason why there are limits and regulations governing its operation.

"This is capitalism with all the walls knocked out," he explained. "Everybody's worth only as much as their economic potential. It's kind of a mixture of the ludicrously extreme and the just around the corner."

It's hard not to focus on that just-around-the-corner aspect after reading "Jennifer Government." In some ways, the world Barry lays out isn't so foreign or so different from the present after all.

"It's a strange time for satirists because so many extreme things have happened," he admitted.

Max Barry will read from his novel at 6 p.m. Thursday at University Book Store, 711 State St., Madison, WI.