Uncanny Valley, a memoir by a woman who worked in publishing, and later moved to Silicon Valley, is one of the most well-written thought provoking books I've read in a while. The detached insider's perspective is fresh and unique. Silicon Valley is predeominantly run by young white men, and the author is a young white woman. She did not have a background in tech, but gave her very best to understand the insane world as much as she could while being a part of it. This unique combination of understanding and being an insider while also being in a position to give a perspective of contantly being some kind of 'outsider' makes this a thoroughly enjoyable read.

It did, of course, help, that it was a big confirmation of two conflicting idealogies I personally hold in my brain, only one of which are relatable to people at a time, depending on who I'm speaking with.

One part of me is highly optimistic about technology; he believes everyone should learn to code, that building software is a highly creative activity simply with a technical skillset. That everyone should have their own domain and a little website for themselves (you're reading this on mine). That the future of new technologies may feel dire, but humanity is still mostly nice. That the internet brings a net positive into the world. That the solution isn't in going back to caveman days, but implementating tech in better, more humane ways. That AI isn't a threat.

The other is extremely cynical and insists on going analog for everything. To-do lists and journals and life management should be on paper. Dating should happen off of apps. Smartwatches and fitness trackers are straight-up dystopian. He wants to self-host everything on his own cloud. That there is still something romantic about asking for directions, feeling lost, and finding places organically. That algorithms are fucking us up and all social media platforms should come with a chronological feed. That boredom is a feeling we all ought to experience a lot more in our lives.

These two facets of mine are constantly at odds with each other; my life is a constant flip-flop between the two states. Uncanny Valley reads like the latter speaking about the former with uncannily relatable dissonance.

Anna Weiner worked in the literary field prior to moving to San Francisco, and it is shows - anything well-written by someone well-read is a delight to read. I would imagine someone with zero exposure to the tech industry would also thoroughly enjoy this outsider's insider perspective on the break-neck speed of modern tech-startup culture that borders on self-delusional. And if you've even had a little taste of startup culture at all, which I did, having worked at two startups in India, her attention to detail and ways of describing what it is like working in such an environment speaks to your heart. It feels like she is vocalising things most people have an inkling of at the backs of their heads but never speak up about. I can only imagine what it must've been like in Silicon Valley at the peak of the craze.

Particularly enjoyable is the way she never mentions a single company in the entire book, but refers to them in a way that it is immediately apparent who she is talking about: The "ride-sharing app", "the app that let's you book a stranger's house", "the social network that everyone hates", "the open-source software company", "the search-engine giant".

Her cynicisms and critiques are ones easily found elsewhere on the Internet. Her experience and contribution in helping build these companies and platforms, however, and her skillful way with words, lends extra credibility to it all. The book is highly quotable.

All in all, highly recommend it.