Review of Incentives

[John Owen]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Incentives" by George Frankllin.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Incentives is a satirical and vaguely comical novel by George Frankllin. Red Johansson has been the president of Battle Creek First, which is the economic development wing of the city of Battle Creek, for over ten years. Life hadn't been so good and Red together with his wife, Ingrid, struggled to build the kind of life they both wanted. One day, an opportunity he needed so much sprung up through an infomercial that was shown on the TV about a course in economic development. He takes the course which lands him a job as the president of economic planning in Battle Creek, Michigan. The book details how Red takes advantage of his position to siphon money and incentives from the government through very laughable means.

The book, to begin with, was a big disappointment. I expected a nonfiction book, considering the book's description and genre. I expected, say, an explanation of how government officials use illegal means to get money from the government, but not in form of a fictional novel. However, the book was the exact opposite. It was entirely fictional and was majorly a story about Red's dubious practices as the president in charge of the economic development in Battle Creek. It would have been acceptable if the author would have just explicitly stated that the book is a fictional novel.

However, as I continued following the book, I continually began loving it even though it was difficult getting to the root of where the story was heading at first. The drama in Michigan's economic development committee quickly unfolds as the book progresses. Red looks for every little avenue that he can use to get government funding and incentives, even if it means creating a project that doesn't even exist.

The most notable thing in the book is satire. The humor, though rib-cracking at times, sounded majorly vague to me, but is also worth mentioning. I couldn't help but laugh at the humorous conversation between Red and Rosa. Rosa was looking for a way to get her marijuana bakery funded by the government. She claims that her marijuana bakery (that she humorously calls 'ganjapreneurship') would greatly help the city of Michigan in its economic development. Quite laughable, isn't it?

The way the author coins names, words, and scenarios also add to the overall enjoyment of the book. An example is 'ganjapreneurship' which was a project of making 'medicinal cakes' laced with marijuana that would be used to solicit funds from the government.

The book touched on various themes like corruption, poor leadership, and capitalism. It figuratively condemns the way funds from the government which could have benefited the common citizen are misappropriated.

There are several errors in the book, and I feel another round of editing is needed. There is also an issue with the style since at various places the book took the form of a play. Some sentences begin with a speaker, followed by a colon, and then the words spoken, but the speakers' words are enclosed in speech marks. This is an error I don't expect a professional editor to miss.

The book gets a 3 out of 4. The lack of clarity about the book's genre and the errors in the book certainly cost the book a star, but it was still enjoyable to read and, therefore, it would be unreasonable and unfair giving a lower rating.

Do you love books with heavy satire and humor? How about books that are about how money from the government is misappropriated? If yes, this book would interest you.

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Incentives
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[Ananya Srivastava]

It's a bit disappointing that this book is based on fiction, but I'll probably still read it. Thank you so much for your review, it was very informative.

[Lasty Kondijo]

George Franklin has always been one of my favorite author, indeed from your review i can say this must be a very enjoyable book. its a must read for me

[Humera955]

I always love books with humour.
Thanks for this intriguing reveiw

[OddBall__]

Thank you for being honest and now I know what to expect. I will not be reading this book as I do not like fiction.

[Edet Joy]

I'd wished the author minded a lot of things that led to the overaly almost perfect rating. Nice and well detailed