Max Barry

Max Barry (born 18 March 1973) is an Australian novelist, short-story writer and essayist. His books include Syrup, Jennifer Government, and Company.

Quotes

  • Apparently we’re now in a state where most ads are full of people looking at us in a way that would heat us up down to our toes if it happened in real life, and we don’t think anything of it.
    • October 16, 2005 weblog post
  • When someone thinks, “I liked his last book, I’ll hope this new one is good” and shells out their hard-earned, I fervently want that person to be thrilled.
    • October 8, 2005 weblog post
  • I think this is the first time I’ve altered a book based on what you guys told me. So it’s an occasion! Soon I’ll be putting up polls to choose between plots, and then it’s a short stop to accepting anonymous contributions and stapling them together while I sip margaritas on the deck of a Pacific cruise ship.
    • August 24, 2005 weblog post
  • Someone from the Internet Writing Workshop sent me a link to the Gender Genie, where you paste in a section of text and it uses an algorithm to detect whether the author is male or female. Or, if you’re an author, you can tell whether you’re really nailing your opposite-sex characters. I mean, nailing their dialog.
    • August 8, 2005 weblog post
  • Look, I understand that for a lot of people, the US is superior to their country of residence in myriad ways, but I'm Australian. We have it all: the weather, the beautiful cities, the brand of football that involves neither padding yourself up like Santa Claus nor standing in a line in front of goal and covering your testicles.
    • Great Writing interview[]
  • When it's done with being graceful and poetic, language is meant to communicate, after all.
    • Great Writing interview
  • I feel comfortably qualified to talk about anything, but that's a personal problem and I'm dealing with it.
    • Great Writing interview
  • Corporations! It's like there are these gigantic monsters living among us, and we don't mind that they're monsters because when we look at them they smile and hand us cheeseburgers. That's nuts.
    • Great Writing interview

Jennifer Government (2003)

  • "John here," the other John said, "pioneered the concept of marketing by refusing to sell any products. It drives the market insane."
    • Chapter 1, page 4
  • "I remember when you could always rely on those little street kids to pop a few people for the latest Nikes," Vice-President John said. "Now people get mugged for Reeboks, for Adidas — for generics, for Christ's sake."
    • Chapter 1, page 5
  • The easier your job, the more you got paid. John had suspected this for many years, but here was the proof: pulling down five hundred bucks an hour to sit in the afternoon sun on top of an L.A. office tower.
    • Chapter 40, page 138
  • "Hey, I saw this old British movie, all the people spoke so different, you could hardly understand them. But everyone here speaks American as good as you and me. What's with that?"
    • Chapter 40, page 144
  • John said, "You know what makes a successful executive?"
"Dude, I am a successful executive."
"Decisiveness," he said. The doors slid open. A man in a briefcase was standing there; he raised his eyebrows. John pointed the gun at the man's leg and squeezed the trigger. It was louder than he'd expected.
"Holy shit!" the kid said.
"Also implementation skills," John said, and left the elevator.
  • Chapter 45, page 168
  • Some people would break the rules to get things done and some wouldn't; it was simple as that. John didn't have much use for the latter.
    • Chapter 51, page 190
  • "By this action, the Government has proved that so long as it exists, none of us are truly free. Government and freedom are mutually exclusive. So if we value freedom, there's only one conclusion. It's time to get rid of this leftover relic we call Government."
    • Chapter 53, page 202
  • "I've given you a world without Government interference. There is now no advertising campaign, no intercompany deal, no promotion, no action you can't take. You want to pay kids to get the swoosh tattooed on their foreheads? Who's going to stop you? You want to make computers that need repair after three months? Who's going to stop you? You want to reward consumers who complain about your competitors in the media? You want to pay them for recruiting their little brothers and sisters to your brand of cigarettes? You want the NRA to help you eliminate your competition? Then do it. Just do it."
    • Chapter 58
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