By Max(x) Barry

I’m reviewing Syrup because I’m re-reading it. I’m re-reading it because they recently released a movie based on the book. And partially because Max Barry also just published his latest book called Lexicon, which I am very much looking forward to read.

Syrup was Barry’s debut novel, published way back in 1999. It’s also the only one where he adopted the pseudo-pseudonym with an additional ‘X’ added to his first name. Since then, he’s published three more witty books (not including Lexicon) and I’ve read all of them.

In a nut-shell, Syrup is about marketing. More specifically, it’s about recent college grad Scat who has just come up with a million-dollar idea for a new cola product called Fukk. Before becoming a successful author, Barry worked in marketing in his native Australia.

The plot is quick-paced, thanks mostly to the short sections with mini-titles to keep the narrative moving and provide a second narrative voice. The characters are memorable, mostly because of their unique names: besides Scat, there’s his love-interest 6, his former roommate Sneaky Pete, and their rival @.

These names stick because of marketing. The characters are trying to be cool and memorable and, in Barry’s alternative-universe Los Angeles, they are. I only slightly take offense that Barry sets the novel in L.A., instead of my hometown of Atlanta, where Coke’s headquarters is actually located. But I digress.

I enjoyed Syrup the second time almost as much as I did the first. Partially because it’s been a few years and I’d forgotten a few of the finer points, but mostly because it has lots of finer points that make up a fine novel.

Barry has become one of my favorite authors of the current generation. He has a tone that accurately captures the shallow-minded nature of our society with equal parts humor and humility. More people should read his books and hopefully with the release of the movie, they will.