A review by bluestarfish
The Bug by Ellen Ullman

4.0

Life in a start-up isn't easy, especially when you are trying to track down a flakey bug in the software. After reading Ellen Ullman's autobiography it is quite nice to delve into some of her fiction too. She brings her knowledge and experience of the early computing days into the story that is probing the relationship between machines and people, and it shows. Ethan Levin and Roberta Walton take the lead in the narration as we spend time with this computer company and the software they are trying to ship, and the mysterious bug "Jester" that is causing chaos. None of the people in this world are very happy, and actually this is a tragedy. I found the computer stuff interesting as I've hovered around the margins, so I enjoyed reading those details.