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Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Lampooning corporate "ethics," sexual politics and the marketing and film industries, this clever debut satire by 25-year-old Australian writer Barry will have readers nodding in agreement and quoting it to their friends. Ingenuous new marketing graduate Scat (he feels that his full name, Michael George Holloway, just won't do for a career in marketing) moves to L.A. hoping to become rich and famous. After he gets a million-dollar idea for a new cola product, cheeky and arrogant Scat approaches a beautiful, ruthless marketing manager named 6 at Coca-Cola. The new product's name is, hilariously, a "dirty" word, spelled unconventionally and in stylish font on a black can. But before Scat's cash cow can be milked, his roommate Sneaky Pete steals the idea, is hired by Coke, and soon holds the purse-strings for Coca-Cola's biggest marketing undertaking ever, a $140 million movie. The infuriated Scat joins forces with 6 to create their own, better movie, with a measly $10,000 budget. With Scat's creative ideas, 6's business acumen and the help of 6's film-major roommate Tina, and Scat's actress ex-girlfriend Cindy, they set out to beat Sneaky Pete at his own game. Scat and 6 have an affectionate, wary bond (even though Scat's crazy for her and she claims she's a lesbian), and together they nimbly dodge the clever, ever-surprising political landmines that Sneaky Pete sets in their path. In the end, Scat's na?vet? and creative enthusiasm help him win his dream and the girl. By that point, readers will be rooting for him and will know much more about the politics of business, films, marketing and sex. Foreign rights sold in France, Italy, Germany and Australia. (July)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Twenty-three-year-old marketing graduate Scat (n? Michael) is in search of the American dream of wealth, fame, friendship with movie stars, and true love. He thinks he just may have it all in sight when he comes up with a brilliant idea for a new soft drink, Fukk Cola, and the beautiful new-products manager at Coke, the improbably named 6, agrees that it has definite possibilities. Unfortunately, Sneaky Pete, Scat's roommate, lives up to his name and steals Fukk in order to get a head start up the corporate ladder. Many connivances and contrivances later, 6 and Scat take on Sneaky Pete and his assistant @ directly in a last-ditch struggle to assume ascendancy at Coke. Will 6 and Scat fall in love? Will they succeed in vanquishing Sneaky Pete? With Winona Ryder, Brad Pitt, and Tom Cruise making cameo appearances and Gwyneth Paltrow acting as deus ex machina, how could dreams not come true? Never as hilarious as the author intended, this first novel remains a moderately humorous riff on advertising and corporate life.ANancy Pearl, Washington Ctr. for the Book, Seattle
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
I want to be famous. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
I want to be famous. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A painfully obvious charm?,
By
This review is from: Syrup (Paperback)
Or is that charmingly oblivious?
No matter the turn of phrase, Maxx Barry (or as the copywrite states: Max Barry) has hit the mark with Syup. The narrative moves at a steady, and highly amusing, clip, though there are a few initial setbacks. The main character is named after animal droppings, for one, (Scat, really?) and too much of the book revolves around one character's secuality, but both of those "faults" fold nicely into the overarching theme of "perception is reality". I would recomend this book for anyone who's in the mood for a masterful spoof of Corporate America.
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Very Clever First Novel,
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This review is from: Syrup (Paperback)
Michael George Holloway, the narrator and marketing graduate from Cal State summa cum laude, changes his name to "Scat" in order to better market himself for a marketing job. So begins this rollicking novel about the cut-throat world of business. Along the way Scat meets the beautiful 6-- her parents named her zero and changed her name every year on her birthday, but they both died just after renaming her "6"-- there's also the aptly named "Sneaky Pete" and the beautifullly blonde @. I suppose we could probably spell her name "Ambers Anne" because of her lemony looks.In keeping with the tone of this novel, the chapters are marked by bar codes; and marketing case studies are interspersed throughout this tale: for example, mktg case study #1: mktg perfume - TRIPLE YOUR PRICE. THIS GIVES CUSTOMERS THE IMPRESSION OF GREAT QUALITY. HELPS PROFITS TOO. Mr. Barry, who has taught marketing at "two major universities" in Australia, convinces me that he understands the ugly but funny world he writes about. What we ultimately have, however, is an old-fashioned love story with enough laughs for everyone.
3.0 out of 5 stars
whiz bang pop sizzle and all that,
By jose_monkey_org "jose_monkey_org" (ann arbor, mi, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Syrup (Paperback)
a couple of weekends ago i received a copy of Syrup, a very hip and delightful short novel. in this particular story we find our characters, scat, six, and sneaky pete all work in the world of corporate advertising. they're all in their mid-20's, more successful (even before the story really gets going and they find employment) than you or i were at that age, and before you know it it's a dream/nightmare life for them. funny how fiction is like that ...barry creates a world where satire attacks corporations, the job world, and sexual ethics, all deftly told. definitely for the younger crowd, for people who view marketing with a strange mix of contempt and glee, and for people who enjoy a fast-paced story this summer. not a edgey as it could be, and it shows some failure in its execution, but a decent treatment of the subject of corporate marketing.
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