Live Work Work Work Die
A Journey into the Savage Heart of Silicon Valley
by Corey Pein
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Pub Date Apr 24 2018 | Archive Date Apr 24 2018
Henry Holt & Company | Metropolitan Books
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Description
A scathing, sardonic exploration of Silicon Valley tech culture, laying bare the greed, hubris, and retrograde politics of an industry that aspires to radically transform society for its own benefit
At the height of the startup boom, journalist Corey Pein set out for Silicon Valley with little more than a smartphone and his wits. His goal: to learn how such an overhyped industry could possibly sustain itself as long as it has. But to truly understand the delirious reality of the tech entrepreneurs, he knew he would have to inhabit that perspective—he would have to become an entrepreneur himself. Thus Pein begins his journey—skulking through gimmicky tech conferences, pitching his over-the-top business ideas to investors, and rooming with a succession of naive upstart programmers whose entire lives are managed by their employers—who work endlessly and obediently, never thinking to question their place in the system.
In showing us this frantic world, Pein challenges the positive, feel-good self-image that the tech tycoons have crafted—as nerdy and benevolent creators of wealth and opportunity—revealing their self-justifying views and their insidious visions for the future. Vivid and incisive, Live Work Work Work Die is a troubling portrait of a self-obsessed industry bent on imposing its disturbing visions on the rest of us.
Advance Praise
“In the spirit of George Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and London,
Corey Pein takes us on a gonzo misadventure through the underbelly of
Silicon Valley, exposing the dystopian comedy behind the techno optimism
with wry observation and gleeful contempt. A helluva ride.”
—Joe Hagan, author of Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine
“All praise to Corey Pein for jumping headfirst into the cesspool of
Silicon Valley and returning without having lost his mind or sold his
soul. His reports from the front lines of the startup frenzy are
hilarious and terrifying. While all eyes are glued on President Trump, a
shortsighted and reactionary techno-oligarchy aims to amass a fortune
at the cost of the common good. There’s no app that can save us. But
this book can at least wake us up to the dystopian future under
construction.”
—Astra Taylor, author of The People’s Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age
“Pein’s absurdly funny journey is a Through-the-Looking-Glass tale
for the dying days of tech utopianism. Built on the creative vanity of
this new class of talentless speculator and designed entirely without
human need in mind, this world of nonsense quickly turns dystopian when
seen from the perspective of a worker and renter trying to make his way
through it.”
—Angela Nagle, author of Kill All Normies: Online Culture Wars From 4Chan And Tumblr To Trump And The Alt-Right
“You sleep in a pantry because you can’t afford a real apartment. You
exploit yourself, destroy your health, and ruin the lives of millions
when you finally succeed. You think of crime as a great business model.
You embrace some of the worst politics ever devised. And you call it
progress. Silicon Valley, the capitalist miracle. That is the American
nightmare as Corey Pein brilliantly describes it, and it is not a work
of the imagination. This is really happening, and soon it will be
happening to you.”
—Thomas Frank, author of Listen, Liberal and What’s the Matter with Kansas?
“Deeply unsettling . . . A clearheaded reckoning with the
consequences of the tech industry’s disruptions and the ideology that
undergirds it.”
—Kirkus Reviews
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781627794855 |
| PRICE | $28.00 (USD) |
| PAGES | 320 |
