Uncanny Valley
by
49/99
Critics' Rating Index
6/99
Readers' Rating Index
91/99
Scholars' Citation Index
99/99
Volume of Reviews
93/99
Volume of Reader Ratings
Sign in to add to your shelf, rate, or review this book.
About This Book
The prescient, page-turning account of a journey in Silicon Valley: a defining memoir of our digital age In her mid-twenties, at the height of tech industry idealism, Anna Wiener—stuck, broke, and looking for meaning in her work, like any good millennial--left a job in book publishing for the promise of the new digital economy. She moved from New York to San Francisco, where she landed at a big-data startup in the heart of the Silicon Valley bubble: a world of surreal extravagance, dubious success, and fresh-faced entrepreneurs hell-bent on domination, glory, and, of course, progress. Anna arrived amidst a massive cultural shift, as the tech industry rapidly transformed into a locus of wealth and power rivaling Wall Street. But amid the company ski vacations and in-office speakeasies, boyish camaraderie and ride-or-die corporate fealty, a new Silicon Valley began to emerge: one in far over its head, one that enriched itself at the expense of the idyllic future it claimed to be building. Part coming-age-story, part portrait of an already-bygone era, Anna Wiener's memoir is a rare first-person glimpse into high-flying, reckless startup culture at a time of unchecked ambition, unregulated surveillance, wild fortune, and accelerating political power. With wit, candor, and heart, Anna deftly charts the tech industry's shift from self-appointed world savior to democracy-endangering liability, alongside a personal narrative of aspiration, ambivalence, and disillusionment. Unsparing and incisive, Uncanny Valley is a cautionary tale, and a revelatory interrogation of a world reckoning with consequences its unwitting designers are only beginning to understand.
Reviews
"Wiener's eventual exit from startups is publishing's gain: She is an extremely gifted writer and cultural critic."
"She excels when challenging the tech industry: questioning its reluctance to diversify and refusal to hold itself accountable for digital surveillance ..."
"It's possible to create a realistic portrait of contemporary San Francisco by simply listing all the harebrained new-money antics and 'mindful' hippie-redux principles that flourish there."
"But without the frisson of shame, Uncanny Valley would be a completely different book, and not nearly as good."
"The start-ups Wiener works for are never named, although enough breadcrumbs are dropped for those who care to guess."
"The seductiveness of Wiener's writing is the feeling that we're as smart as she is."
"A compelling takedown of the pitfalls of start-up culture, from sexism to the lack of guardrails, Uncanny Valley highlights the maniacal optimism of the twentysomethings behind the screens and the pitfalls of the culture they are building."
"Wiener's book transcends the model of a tech-work memoir; ultimately, she's chronicling her interior climate in opposition to quotidian surroundings that she finds essentially bizarre ..."
"But Wiener's book is also proof that it hasn't succeeded yet."
"Reading Uncanny Valley felt like getting put on airplane mode, blocked from making relevant connections...Around these gaps, Wiener's book is studded with sharp assessments ..."
Preview
Reader Reviews
0 reviewsSign in to write a review.
No reader reviews yet. Be the first!