Book No. 37 of 2020 ⭐️
I want to clap for this book, which made it onto my “outstanding” list based on the sheer integrity and strength of its author. Fowler recounts the frankly mindblowing journey she took to pull herself out of poverty (with a determined auto-didacticism that reminds me of Francie Nolan in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn), the appalling treatment she endured and escaped as a student at Penn, and the bizarre, infuriating experience working in Silicon Valley that led to the infamous and world-shaking blog post.
It is aggravating to read Fowler’s accounts of harassment and sexism, but it is also inspiring—not in the empty “rah rah, girl power” way, but actually truly inspiring—to read about how her past experiences and her love of philosophy and her insistence that empathy and kindness and fairness should not be discounted led her to speak up for what was right, long before she wrote the blog post. She is also very honest about the fallout from the post: the stalking, hacking, threats, rumors, smears, and having her whole life combed through in the public eye. Her conviction and clear-eyed intellect shine through the entire story and her determination to do what she can, not for herself but for other women, is really beautiful.
Similar Reads
You absolutely also should read Chanel Miller’s Know My Name—both these books are beautiful doses of humanity written by women who did not choose to be victims but put their experiences into their own words and ended up changing the world.
This also pairs wonderfully with Anna Wiener’s Uncanny Valley, which also lays bare the surreal horror of the many -isms in Silicon Valley startup culture.
And of course you should also read this with Mike Isaac’s Super Pumped, which offers a more high-level, very bonkers view of Uber in the Kalanick era.