Uncanny Valley

Uncanny Valley • Doris Kearns Goodwin

⭑ 7.1 Stars

As I was navigating Scribd to the next audiobook on my list, this recently released memoir popped up in a banner advertisement on the app, and I decided to give it a shot. In the past, I’ve been skeptical of any book touting criticism of startups or technology, but with Anna Weiner’s debut I was pleasantly surprised.

The word that kept rattling around in my head while I listened to this book was thoughtful - her opinions, positions, and general criticisms were entirely thoughtful. She’s self-aware, deprecating, and funny, all of which comes across as genuine in this concise retelling of her own trip through the bubble known as Silicon Valley. Perhaps my appreciation is simply because I could relate to her story. Although I only spent three months living in San Francisco (as part of the incubator she cites often in the book), it was long enough to appreciate how jarring the culture can be for anyone not embedded deep into the ecosystem.