Syrup

So, I just read one hell of a book.

The book is entitled Syrup, and it's written by Max(x) Barry, the author of Jennifer Government. The book centers around marketing idea-man Scat and his partner/object of infatuation, 6. After Scat's old roommate, Sneaky Pete, steals Scat's brilliant idea for a new soda, Scat and 6 need to figure out a way to get around Sneaky Pete's social maneuvering and shoot him down once and for all.
The thing that made the book so compelling was that Scat kept failing. Whether by chance, by Sneaky Pete being quicker, or just by bad luck, almost the entire book is of him screwing up and yet somehow still being intelligent and creative enough to keep going. He spends the entire book infuriating two women (6 and his old flame, Cindy), and yet neither of them seem to actually tire of him. Sneaky Pete is clearly better at the game, which in addition to frustrating everything Scat tries to do, also adds to the book's story by making a very hateable, despicable antagonist. You will get so pissed off at Sneaky Pete. Despite the smallest introduction possible as Scat's roommate, by the end, he's the most insidious, two-timing and just evil guy you could think of. He makes you hate the marketing ethos, despite the fact that the 'good guy' is doing the exact same thing.
I enjoyed it thoroughly, though I wonder if taking longer to read it and fuming a bit more would have made it more fun. I don't know.

In vaguely related news, I got my Maximo iMetal iM-490 headphones in the mail from Woot. They are completely sealing earbuds, something new to me. The sound is crisper, the passive noise cancelling is fantastic, and, unprecedented for earbuds, they have bass response. For 15 bucks, I say it was a pretty good buy.