Makers by C. Doctorow

I just finished reading Makers, the latest from Cory Doctorow. I had previously read Eastern Standard Tribe and enjoyed it immensely, so I had big hopes for Makers. Sadly, I was disappointed. It is not a terrible novel, but it gets dragged down by the anchor of its messages.
Doctorow clearly has a lot to say about the worth of making things, open source, community, the dangers of engineering our bodies, over-consumption, and the evilness of corporations that he tries to cram it all into a buddy story about two misfit hackers trying to make good things. They make good works and eventually start a movement. When the movement threatens the fortunes of the status quo, the status quo tries to destroy them, eventually co-ops them, and then after along period of darkness they relearn the joy of hacking.
If you cut out a few steps, the contrived period of darkness, the ridiculous run up to the buy out, the fatkins, the perfunctory Yoko, and the bits of marital trouble, you have the makings of a good story.  With it all, the story is a dogs breakfast. The characters and the plot wobbles under the weight of it all.
Even with all the extra weight, the book was still decent until the Epilogue. It was plausible that Lester would be miserable working for a huge company and that the fatkins modifications would end badly. But what becomes of Perry does not make sense given his actions and thought throughout the novel. He would never end up as a wandering factory worker. He is too much of an organizer and a home body.
The book needed an editor with a sharp knife and the will to use it.