Reviews
"Equal parts bildungsroman and insider report, this book reveals not just excesses of the tech-startup landscape, but also the Faustian bargains and hidden political agendas embedded in the so-called "inspiration culture" underlying a too-powerful industry. A funny, highly informative, and terrifying read." -- Kirkus (starred review) "[An] insider-y debut memoir that sharply critiques start-up culture and the tech industry . . . Wiener is an entertaining writer, and those interested in a behind-the-scenes look at life in Silicon Valley will want to take a look." -- Publishers Weekly "I've never read anything like Uncanny Valley , which is both a searching bird's-eye study of an industry and a generation, as well as an intimate, microscopic portrait of ambition and hope and dread. Anna Wiener writes about the promise and the decay of Silicon Valley with the impossibly pleasurable combination of a precise, razored intellect and a soft, incandescent heart. Her memoir is diagnostic and exhilarating, a definitive document of a world in transition : I won't be alone in returning to it for clarity and consolation for many years to come." -- Jia Tolentino , author of Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion " Uncanny Valley is a generation-defining account of the amoral late-capitalist tech landscape we are fatally enmeshed in. With grace and humor, Anna Wiener shows us the misogyny, avarice, and optimistic self-delusion of our cultural moment, wrapped up in the gripping story of a young woman navigating the blurred boundaries of a seductive world . Insightful, compelling and urgent. " --Stephanie Danler, author of Sweetbitter: A Novel "Like Joan Didion at a startup."-- Rebecca Solnit , author of Call Them By Their True Names "A rare mix of acute, funny, up-to-the-minute social observation, dead-serious contemplation of the tech industry's annexation of our lives, and a sincere first-person search for meaningful work and connection. How does an unworn pair of plain sneakers 'become a monument to the end of sensuousness'? Read on."-- William Finnegan , author of Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life " Uncanny Valley is an addictive combination of coming-of-age story, journalistic memoir, and brilliant social critique. This is a stunningly good book. I loved it." -- Dani Shapiro , author of Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love " Uncanny Valley is a sentimental education for our accelerated times, a memoir so good it will make you slow down . Is it too much to say that every sculpted page will be studied by future generations? (No.) Anna Wiener is the Joan Didion of start-up culture and then some." --Ed Park, author of Personal Days "Alternately outrageous and outraging. What makes Uncanny Valley unforgettable is not just Wiener's unique take on tech, but the fun of being along on the journey with her. Her immense intelligence and facility with language make the pages fly. She's generous, quippy, introspective and always self-deprecating. Technophobes have nothing to fear; she employs jargon mainly for laughs." -- Katie Weed, Shelf Awareness, "Like Joan Didion at a startup."-- Rebecca Solnit , author of Call Them By Their True Names "I've never read anything like Uncanny Valley , which is both a searching bird's-eye study of an industry and a generation, as well as an intimate, microscopic portrait of ambition and hope and dread. Anna Wiener writes about the promise and the decay of Silicon Valley with the impossibly pleasurable combination of a precise, razored intellect and a soft, incandescent heart. Her memoir is diagnostic and exhilarating, a definitive document of a world in transition: I won't be alone in returning to it for clarity and consolation for many years to come." -- Jia Tolentino , author of Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion "A rare mix of acute, funny, up-to-the-minute social observation, dead-serious contemplation of the tech industry's annexation of our lives, and a sincere first-person search for meaningful work and connection. How does an unworn pair of plain sneakers 'become a monument to the end of sensuousness'? Read on."-- William Finnegan , author of Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life " Uncanny Valley is an addictive combination of coming-of-age story, journalistic memoir, and brilliant social critique. This is a stunningly good book. I loved it." -- Dani Shapiro , author of Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love, "Equal parts bildungsroman and insider report, this book reveals not just excesses of the tech-startup landscape, but also the Faustian bargains and hidden political agendas embedded in the so-called "inspiration culture" underlying a too-powerful industry. A funny, highly informative, and terrifying read." -- Kirkus (starred review) "[An] insider-y debut memoir that sharply critiques start-up culture and the tech industry . . . Wiener is an entertaining writer, and those interested in a behind-the-scenes look at life in Silicon Valley will want to take a look." -- Publishers Weekly "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." -- Booklist "I've never read anything like Uncanny Valley , which is both a searching bird's-eye study of an industry and a generation, as well as an intimate, microscopic portrait of ambition and hope and dread. Anna Wiener writes about the promise and the decay of Silicon Valley with the impossibly pleasurable combination of a precise, razored intellect and a soft, incandescent heart. Her memoir is diagnostic and exhilarating, a definitive document of a world in transition : I won't be alone in returning to it for clarity and consolation for many years to come." -- Jia Tolentino , author of Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion " Uncanny Valley is a generation-defining account of the amoral late-capitalist tech landscape we are fatally enmeshed in. With grace and humor, Anna Wiener shows us the misogyny, avarice, and optimistic self-delusion of our cultural moment, wrapped up in the gripping story of a young woman navigating the blurred boundaries of a seductive world . Insightful, compelling and urgent. " --Stephanie Danler, author of Sweetbitter: A Novel "Like Joan Didion at a startup."-- Rebecca Solnit , author of Call Them By Their True Names "A rare mix of acute, funny, up-to-the-minute social observation, dead-serious contemplation of the tech industry's annexation of our lives, and a sincere first-person search for meaningful work and connection. How does an unworn pair of plain sneakers 'become a monument to the end of sensuousness'? Read on."-- William Finnegan , author of Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life " Uncanny Valley is an addictive combination of coming-of-age story, journalistic memoir, and brilliant social critique. This is a stunningly good book. I loved it." -- Dani Shapiro , author of Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love " Uncanny Valley is a sentimental education for our accelerated times, a memoir so good it will make you slow down . Is it too much to say that every sculpted page will be studied by future generations? (No.) Anna Wiener is the Joan Didion of start-up culture and then some." --Ed Park, author of Personal Days "Alternately outrageous and outraging. What makes Uncanny Valley unforgettable is not just Wiener's unique take on tech, but the fun of being along on the journey with her. Her immense intelligence and facility with language make the pages fly. She's generous, quippy, introspective and always self-deprecating. Technophobes have nothing to fear; she employs jargon mainly for laughs." -- Katie Weed, Shelf Awareness
