42. Syrup

by Maxx Barry (304 pgs)

Rating: 4

Scat is a young marketing graduate who comes up with one really great idea. One idea that will set him up for life. One idea that will make him famous in the marketing world. One fabulous fantastic idea that will change the entire soda industry. Unfortunately, Scat's really bad at managing. Soon he is in way over his head and scrambling around set-backs and disappointments to reach his marketing nirvana with an ever present optimism.

Syrup is, I feel, a good example of modern satirical writing. The voice is witty and engaging, self-deprecating without being whiney, and amusing without being obnoxious. Barry makes sobering and hilarious point about the culture that, I at least, grew up in. A society where television and marketers have told us what to wear, what our bodies should look like, and what tastes good. While appropriately cynical, Barry's book is not self-indulgent and a good read for just about anyone who's ever said, 'wait a minute, that's total crap,' when watching a commercial.