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THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, February 12, 2003 11 « CONTACT US IT ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE: The power Story ideas? Questions? Comments? of the periodical press is second only E-mail us at gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com , to that of the people.” justice Barry explores alternate reality in second novel PHOTOS SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK Australian author Max Berry’s second novel, “Jennifer Government,” is in development to become a major motion picture with Section Eight Rims. “JENNIFER GOVERNMENT” Max Barry ★★★★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆ BY BRIAN RAY THB GAMECOCK « Max Barry plunges the read er into a dystopian world domi nated by American Corporations in “Jennifer Government.” In this alternate 21st century, conglomerates wage literal war against one another. Your job determines every thing, even your last name. Any second, your office might become a no man’s land, and the secre tary previously organizing a list serve on her laptop might have a Glock centered between your eyes. With one hit novel already on the shelves, Barry promises to be the next Chuck Palahniuk. He writes with a similar dark edge, minus the biting cynicism. “Jennifer Government” al ready has a movie deal laid out with Section Eight Films, a pro duction company owned by Steve Soderbergh and George Clooney. As the story goes, Hack Nike, a cubicle-bound jockey, becomes ensnared in a conspiracy creat ed by his managers to promote their latest shoe by killing the initial customers. Out for justice is Jennifer Government, an agent with a mysterious past in advertising and a barcode tat tooed under her left eye. Jennifer’s investigation meets a fleet of impediments and fi nancial constraints. The gov ernment has abolished its tax policy, and corporations have fed its constitutional authority into a shredder. Stripped'of power and revenue, Jennifer has to beg for money when she’s not bat tling the National Rifle Association with its superior firepower. She even has to pay civilians $300 an hour to com mandeer their vehicles. A tough situation dissolves into chaos as every organization and company from Burger King to Pepsi falls into the battle be tween two huge conglomerates. The world is a chessboard for U.S. Alliance and Team Advantage, who try to eliminate one another through advertising campaigns, computer viruses and all-out raids. John Nike, the mastermind of the Nike murders, takes control of U.S. Alliance through cunning and suave. But when the gov ernment gives John a run for his millions, kinking his bent for world domination, he sets his corporate guns on Jennifer. After wading through 200 pages of plot twists, landing on cars and chasing down execu tives, Jennifer nabs John Nike, saves her daughter — who Nike kidnaps in a last-ditch effort — and takes a well-earned vacation. Nike is an entertaining bad guy who is a source of constant witticisms. In a speech to his cross-business committee, he of fers companies such as IBM the freedom to make computers that crash right after the warranty expires. After imploring his fel low entrepreneurs to stamp the swoosh onto every boy and girl’s forehead, he quotes the famous Nike slogan, “Just do it.” “Jennifer Government” fol lows in the tradition of such nov els as George Orwell’s “1984” and Adolf Huxley’s “Brave New World.” Yet Barry imposes an in version on the classic govern ment controlled autocracy. In this case, the government agents are the good guys, the out numbered underdogs who sim ply try to prevent crime and wor ry less about punishing perpe trators. The novel is full of ironic and comically absurd scenes. In the opening chapters, Hack makes the mistake of not reading the sinister contract before singing. When he goes to the police, they offer to subcontract the job for a reasonable price. In turn, they subcontract to the NRA, which has access to fighter jets and guns as tall and heavy as people. Barry sprays nearly every company under the skyline with his sardonic submachine gun, and he has fun with it. If a cor porate monkey isn’t making a fool of himself, then a protestor SURFYOURSELF Learn more about the author at: www.maxbarry.com is throwing radioactive flour into the grease vats of a McDonald’s. The boldness will earn the novel fame if nothing else, since Barry has decided not to replace big company names with manu factured ones — exposing him to possible lawsuits should a cor poration grow offended. Despite the slightly derogato ry disclaimer in the introduc tion, such lines as “McDonald’s poisons our lives for profit!” might ruffle some feathers, even if Barry routes them through his characters in dialogue. Unfortunately, the novel lacks memorable characters, save Jennifer and her archenemy John. The dozens of sales reps, agents and NRA members blend together, and it’s hard to keep the names and plot contributions straight. • The story line entertains a barrage of narrators and sub plots. The average chapter runs about four pages long, so the nar ration constantly shifts. Barry seems to juggle his narrators fairly well, though. His voice re mains consistent, like a casual bystander. “Shoot ’em up” scenes also . predominate the novel. Although these can get boring, Barry at least uses some interesting lan guage to describe the action. When Jennifer’s squad car falls under heavy fire in Melbourne, her interior becomes “a snow storm of foam.” No doubt this story begs for a top-notch director to develop into a blockbuster on the big screen. Critics have compared it to “The Matrix,” and it does seem to have more action than a typical nov el. Barry has pulled out all the stops on his Web site. In addition to a feature that displays the var ious cover designs, visitors will soon have access to deleted scenes — the way a fan might watch director’s cuts from his fa vorite film. With an inventive title and unique character like “Jennifer Government,” it seems easy to imagine Andy Wachowski and Guy Richie gun-battling George Clooney through Hollywood for the movie rights. Comments on this story?E-mail ?amecockmixeditor@hotmail.com CD REVIEW Ckesney typifies modern country XOPKOBli MS _ “NO SHOES, NO SHIRT, NO PROBLEMS” Kenny Chesney ★★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆ BY MEG MOORE THE GAMECOCK Like mainstream pop radio, coun try music often suffers from a frus trating lack of originality. Kenny Chesney, who will be play ing at the Carolina Center on Friday, typifies the contemporary country sound; with rock-referencing guitar riffs and the requisite amount of twang. While he brings nothing new to the corral of country mu sic, his emerging status as coun try star extraor dinaire evi dences that he has indeed struck a power ful cord with lis teners. Chesney’s latest album, “No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem,” does not push any boundaries, but ratherembraces the country-music parameters already in place with a polished bravado. The album opens with the upbeat “Young,” a track that typifies a com mon theme on the album — and ♦ CHESNEY, SEE PAGE 12 Bands mourn death of Pawn Shop’s front man BY ELEANOR SIBAL THE GAMECOCK On Saturday morning, Columbia’s local-band commu nity lost one of its members in a drunken-driving accident. Ryan Beville died of head in juries in the wreck that occurred off Interstate 20 East. Daniel Beville, Ryan Beville’s brother, was charged with a felony DUI and was released on $20,000 bail from the Kershaw County jail. Another passenger, Boykin A. Gaskin, was taken to Palmetto Richland Memorial Hospital for treatment for a head injury. Ryan Beville, founder and lead singer of the band Pawn Shop, was a respected musician who was friends with members of oth er local bands such as Love Apple, Hot Lava Monster and Tykes With Guns. Tyke J, a member of Tykes With Guns, said he was floored when he heard Beville had been killed. “I was shocked, but I called some of our friends to let them know or see if they had any de tails about the situation, and I was hoping that someone could teU me that it just wasn’t true,” he said. Members of Pawn Shop re member Ryan Beville as a friend ly guy and unique individual. Jon Crowder played bass with Ryan Beville for six years. Among other things, he remem bers Beville as a “huge USC fan” and “the kind of guy who was al ways there for you.” “You could talk to Ryan and not only did he listen, but he had an answer for almost every thing,” Crowder said. “He was suun “ unique in dividual. He was also the only conserva tive Republican rock star I’d ever met. He will be missed by so many.” Brad Owen, lead guitarist for Pawn Shop, has been best friends with Beville since his freshman year at Lugott-irtgin mgn oenooi m Lugoff. “We started playing soccer to gether,” Owen said. “Ryan was a great soccer player. He also in troduced me to the ‘in crowd,’ which is funny because we both didn’t try to be in the in crowd.” Now that Ryan Beville is gone, members of Pawn Shop are not sure about their plans. “I don’t know how we’ll do it, but we will push through and use the things Ryan taught us in our own lives to grow stronger,” Crowder said. “We continued to pursue mu sic 100 percent until his recent death,” Owen said. “That’s all I can say for now.” Felicia Law, coordinator for Aiuunui anu Drag Programs at USC, thinks there are lessons to be learned from situations such as this. “It’s a very sad story, but unfortunate ly, those are the very real consequences when you drive drunk,” she said. “While it may be an individ ual’s choice to drink and drive, once you get in that car, you are in fringing on anotner individual s right to safety,” Law said. Beville’s funeral will be held Thursday at Kornegay Funeral Home in Lugoff. The funeral home is located directly across the street from the pawn shop from which the band got its name. Visitations, also held at the fu neral home, are today from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Thursday from 10 a.m. to noon. The service will fol low at 2 p.m. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com PHOTO COURTESY OF PAWNSHOPMUSIC.COr Ryan Bevllle was the lead singer for Pawn Shop and also founded the local group. CD REVIEW Experienced musicians form new high-energy rock band “MARY STAR OF THE SEA” Zwan ■kick* out of *☆☆☆☆ BY BEN ANGSTADT THE GAMECOCK Billy Corgan is a true gem of the modern music industry. He fronted the Smashing Pumpkins, one of the most suc cessful acts of the 1990s, and all the while managed to remain fresh and original. After a brief hiatus, Corgan is back with Zwan, his lat est musical venture. On “Mary, Star of the Sea,” Zwan’s debut album, it’s obvious that Corgan’s success with the Smashing Pumpkins was no fluke. Zwan is undeniably reminis cent of the Smashing Pumpkins, but it avoids being a mere rehash. Corgan’s songwriting is in a simi lar style to his old material, but still sounds brand new. It is also sufficiently different from the Pumpkins’ style to allow even the least enthusiastic listen ers of the Smashing Pumpkins to be drawn right into Zwan. With Zwan, Corgan is accom panied by some truly seasoned veterans of rock music. Of course, Corgan himself plays guitar and covers the lead vocals. Matt Sweeney, formerly of the independent-rock band Chavez, on guitar, as well as guitarist Dave Pajo, who has played with a number of musical acts, join Corgan. Bassist Paz Lenchantin of the progressive-rock band A Perfect Circle and Jimmy Chamberlain, the drummer from the Smashing Pumpkins albums “Gish” and “Siamese Dream,” round out the group. This variety of musicians gives Zwan an entrancing sound that draws the listener in from the beginning. “Lyric,” with its cadence-like drumbeat, is a solid opening track that starts the album off power fully. The entrancing “Settle Down” comes next, and its bounc ing guitar rhythms and off-kilter vocal harmonies make the al bum’s start even stronger. “Honestly,” the first single, which is currently enjoying radio play, is simple in melody but is one of the strongest tracks on “Mary,” which is truly a feat con sidering the overall strength of the album. After a high-energy beginning, the album’s mood settles down a bit with the acoustic “Of a Broken Heart,” which shows off Corgan’s vocal ability. However, the pace again picks up on the following track, “Ride a Black Swan,” which starts off calm but builds momentum until it recaptures the excitement of the album’s opening. “Heartsong” is sure to be a fa vorite among loyal Smashing Pumpkins fans as its chord struc ture and rhythmic style recalls the sound of the Pumpkins’ hit “Tonight, Tonight.” The head-bobbing feel of “Baby Let’s Rock!” and the mellow “Yeah!” mix things up a bit and fur ther show how versatile Zwan is. One of the more interesting tracks is “Jesus, V Mary Star of the Sea,” which starts out like an old spiritual before building into a psychedelic, wailing, guitar-driv en melody. ♦ ZWAN, SEE PAGE 13 PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK Zwan's first album Is currently ranked third on the Billboard 200.