Antoine Carriere

I found the writing a bit difficult to follow. Plus it feels disingenuous: the author did not actually interview many of the people listed, and in some ways, taking quotes and using them out of context is misleading. That said, I found some parts of this book interesting. I would not recommend this as your first book on Silicon Valley, but if you collect them, it surely deserves a spot on your bookshelf.

I really enjoyed reading this final installment. As in Eliot's prior books, we experience a fictional world that feels only a step away from today. This time around, the ending is unusually open. Emily, the main character, puts it best: for her, "restoration was an act of becoming". A beautiful message, full of hope and compassion, after a riveting 250 pages of fast paced action and broken glass.

Highly practical advice if you are ready to play politics. For context, I don't like politics. And like with many things one doesn't like, I am not particularly good at it. That said, I have come to accept them as part of work life. And I have found useful to read about how to deal with them. That's in that context that I read this book. And I liked it. The author provides practical advice to face the reality that organizations, large and small, are politicized. Generally, she encourages everyone to be thoughtful and calculated in their approach to interpersonal relationships at work. She introduces a number of useful ideas, such as - a framework to assess ones "political personality" (she defines 4 archetypes: purist, team player, street fighter, maneuverer) - a method to read between the lines of interpersonal communications and manage potentially difficult situations: PURRR, or Pause, Understand on content and relational levels, Reflect, Reinterpret, Redirect - a list of skills to up one's political game: * Study other players and what their individual agendas might be. Beware of false advice, and find allies. * Anticipate objections and find ways to minimize them, * Help and flatter others, especially those in power. Make people in charge look good and not lose influence when changing things, * Steer and deflect, question rather than giving rash answers, provide politically astute answers to provocative statements, * Make yourself as relevant as possible within your firm, learn to apologize sincerely, but without excessive selfdeprecation, choose your battles, * Negotiate, * Find ways to do your own self promotion. While all the advice the author gives sounds good, I feel that she is missing 2 important considerations: (1) the time spent doing all this is time taken from other activities. At the very least, she should suggest "what gives" (2) many of her pieces of advice tend to lead to behaviors that may come across as calculated and inauthentic (because, let's face it, they are to some degree...). My experience is that it shows. I recommend asking oneself the question: is it worth it?