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agarocks's review against another edition
1.0
Terrible, preachy, unpleasant, and worst of all: trying to be funny and failing miserably.
mattleesharp's review against another edition
3.0
Pretty great as a sort of survey-from-10,000-feet. As entertaining as the reviews of airbnb accommodations and networking parties were, I couldn't help feeling they were taking space away from a more granular and critical history of industries that receive close to zero criticism in the press. Definitely worth the read for what Pein does tackle though.
claritybear's review
5.0
I should open with the confession that I’ve known Corey for years so it’s possible I’m biased but I’m also a librarian and I don’t take reviews lightly. If I didn’t like it, I’d just have avoided doing a review.
Thankfully however (because no one wants to tell their friend that their book is terrible) it is well worthy of five stars. I’m not a techie and when I first learned about what his book would be about I wasn’t super excited to read it. But this is a book for anyone who is curious about the world of Silicon Valley but also much more.
Corey examines (in a snarky and often biting way) the tech industry and those who are trying to get it on the action. He looks at folks up close and doesn’t shy away from the dark parts. He’s sarcastic and witty while he does it and there may be some pot smoking as well.
Even more interestingly to me, is what he shares about the history of technology and in particular the very worrisome side that is inhabited by racist, mysoginistic, and cultish figures who happen to have a lot of money and a lot of power. This is not a book that will make you feel warm and fuzzy but it is an incredibly important read.
The tech industry and what the manufacture are in our lives in every way possible. And while there is certainly much to applaud and appreciate, there is also much to be concerned about. This is not a “technology is evil and will end us all” book but it is a very cautionary one and everything he discusses bears close attention.
Thankfully however (because no one wants to tell their friend that their book is terrible) it is well worthy of five stars. I’m not a techie and when I first learned about what his book would be about I wasn’t super excited to read it. But this is a book for anyone who is curious about the world of Silicon Valley but also much more.
Corey examines (in a snarky and often biting way) the tech industry and those who are trying to get it on the action. He looks at folks up close and doesn’t shy away from the dark parts. He’s sarcastic and witty while he does it and there may be some pot smoking as well.
Even more interestingly to me, is what he shares about the history of technology and in particular the very worrisome side that is inhabited by racist, mysoginistic, and cultish figures who happen to have a lot of money and a lot of power. This is not a book that will make you feel warm and fuzzy but it is an incredibly important read.
The tech industry and what the manufacture are in our lives in every way possible. And while there is certainly much to applaud and appreciate, there is also much to be concerned about. This is not a “technology is evil and will end us all” book but it is a very cautionary one and everything he discusses bears close attention.
mcfade28's review against another edition
3.0
The author Corey Pein details his attempts to create a startup in Silicon Valley. I found this book to be a little frustrating as the author essentially seemed to rock up to Silicon Valley with no plan besides become a billionaire by creating the next big website. The book essentially tries to convince us of the evils of the industry by describing his own misadventures. While he did have some valid criticisms ( the rent market, the financers who talk a load of rubbish, the misogyny and racism in some areas of the industry) the whole thing was tainted for me by just how utterly unprepared the author was to try to jump start a new career.
nickjagged's review against another edition
5.0
An absolute gem of muckraking that is as funny as it is caustic. Extremely worthwhile reading.
lindy_b's review against another edition
2.0
After reading excerpts of Live Work Work Work Die posted online a couple months ago, I wasn't sure whether or expect a humor-filled memoir or ethnographically-inclined journalism, but I thought it'd be interesting either way. What I did get was a half-baked mess that doesn't dive any deeper than Vice on any given Tuesday. Pein admits in the introduction that he went into the project with nothing so much as resembling a plan and that he had to split the difference between memoir and journalism out of (mostly financial) necessity. Pein may have "Journ[ied] into the Savage Heart of Silicon Valley" but I could have written 90% of this book sitting in my living room in the Midwest. Everyone who has ever wandered into a Reddit thread knows the Bay Area rental market is functionally nonexistent, that Silicon Valley hates labor unions, and that venture capitalists are enamored with eugenics.
I don't know if Pein is just incredibly out of his depth or he's contained here by the scope and imagined audience of this book. It's probably some of both, but passages like the following make me lean towards the former at times:
Bro, the reason they're laughing is that, said with most varieties of heavy accent, 'Greender' and 'Grindr' sound phonetically alike!
I don't know if Pein is just incredibly out of his depth or he's contained here by the scope and imagined audience of this book. It's probably some of both, but passages like the following make me lean towards the former at times:
But the next pitch beat them all. The presenter had a thick, indeterminate accent. His app would help arrange marriages between would-be migrants and citizens in their country of choice. He called it 'Greender, the Tinder for green cards,' which got a big laugh, either because no one knew such marriage arrangements would be illegal or because everyone did. (167)
Bro, the reason they're laughing is that, said with most varieties of heavy accent, 'Greender' and 'Grindr' sound phonetically alike!
blya_pizdec's review against another edition
3.0
you can easily start reading this book from the second half. :/
whosbradpitt's review against another edition
Struggled through this one - fell asleep multiple times, got lost, went back and realized I hadn't retained any of it. Calling it done.
nhewitt99's review against another edition
4.0
This book makes me ashamed to contribute to the tech industry. Pein combines his personal misadventures in Silicon Valley with far-reaching investigative journalism to show Big Tech's least flattering angles. We see a Valley that chews up workers and entrepreneurs, makes false promises, provides platforms to fascists, encourages secession, and exacerbates poverty in the name of progress. Pein's investigation makes clear that these are features, not bugs.
The narrative sections of the book are irreverant and well-paced. Pein has the humility to lampoon his own inabilities to succeed in tech; he also shows that, for the most part, "ability" has nothing to do with success in the Valley. The startup bubble has ossified, and new unicorns are only horses with tacked-on horns, yet the hacker-house crowds don't seem to notice.
My main gripe is the latter half's meandering profiles of tech's "celebrities." The tangled web they form with far-right thinkers is extremely relevant, but is somewhat difficult to draw conclusions from. I would have appreciated more concise synthesis of Pein's many findings, so that when someone asks me "what's so wrong about Big Tech?" I can answer in coherent points, rather than simply sighing with a faraway look in my eyes.
The narrative sections of the book are irreverant and well-paced. Pein has the humility to lampoon his own inabilities to succeed in tech; he also shows that, for the most part, "ability" has nothing to do with success in the Valley. The startup bubble has ossified, and new unicorns are only horses with tacked-on horns, yet the hacker-house crowds don't seem to notice.
My main gripe is the latter half's meandering profiles of tech's "celebrities." The tangled web they form with far-right thinkers is extremely relevant, but is somewhat difficult to draw conclusions from. I would have appreciated more concise synthesis of Pein's many findings, so that when someone asks me "what's so wrong about Big Tech?" I can answer in coherent points, rather than simply sighing with a faraway look in my eyes.
uninherent's review against another edition
5.0
Required reading for any avid technologist or cheerleader thereof hoping to “change the world” in $ill¥ con-arti$t Valle¥.
Very entertaining; both a personal account and a wider investigation into the misdeeds of the above demographic. The only thing missing is reflection on the gentrification aspect.
Very entertaining; both a personal account and a wider investigation into the misdeeds of the above demographic. The only thing missing is reflection on the gentrification aspect.