Book Review: “Uncanny Valley” by Anna Wiener

Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener

Speaking of New York girl going West…   And, of course, The Revenge of the English Majors.

This is Anna Wiener’s personal memoir of a couple of years in SF, in the tech biz.

The writing is an interesting combination of TMI and strategic pasties.

She tells us she worked at ‘an ebook company’, ‘an analytics company’, ‘an open source company’.  None are named, but all are very obvious even to me.  (And by inference, I’m sure that many individuals could be identified if you wanted to do the work.)

This is a personal history, so there is much more than I really needed to read about her personal life and insecurities.

On the other hand, her personal experiences in tech-bro central are highly relevant.

On the other other hand, she is (or at least strikes a pose of) remarkably bland and tolerant of stuff that, to me, sound outrageous on its face.  I guess you had to be there (and be getting paid a packet).

Writing a memoir is a tricky dance, I guess.

In the story, Wiener both foreshadows, and tries to capture what her earlier self was thinking.  We often know what must be coming, and maybe she knew, too, but didn’t admit it.  At the time, it seemed like the right thing to do, the only thing to do.

The best thing about the book is the snappy writing. Wiener has a keen eye, and gives us a witty commentary on what people are wearing and doing and saying.

“The restaurants were full of natural fibers and acacia accents, unobtrusive flora and barre-body waitresses in linen shifts; couples in their thirties and forties, the women wearing sturdy ankle boots and understated engagement rings, the men dressed, typically, to traverse a glacier.” (p. 206)

By the end, it was clearly time to go.  Way past time.

“I wanted to find a way, while I still could, to engage with my own life.” (p. 261)

What’s the end game?  Well she had some stock options, which were worth enough to cushion her a bit.  But what’s next?

“”I could see myself writing blog posts ton my own personal business philosophy: How to Squander Opportunity. How Not to Negotiate. How to Cry in Front of Your Boss. (p. 261)

And I guess she did just that, in book form.

I must say that I found this whole story basically sad.  Throughout, it is clear to me that the author is wasting her time, working on stuff that isn’t needed and probably is harmful.  She will not be rewarded for expending her twenties doing this.   In fact, she is extremely lucky—as she well knows—to  have escaped with as little damage as she did.

Worse than her own wasted time, it seems clear to me that everybody is basically wasting their lives on this stuff.  Even the lucky handful who make their nut, pulling down their FU money, are stuck.  Then what?

The book jacket praises this book as “definitive” and “required reading”, “for years to come”, and stuff like that.

I can’t guess about the long-term impact. But this is certain a book worth reading today.

I would say that kids in school should read this before they head out or drop out.  But maybe not.  I hate to crush the optimism of youth.   (Not that they ever listen to me, anyway! : – ))

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1. Anna Wiener, Uncanny Valley: a Memoir, New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2020.

 

Sunday Book Reviews