The Valley of the Gods

A Silicon Valley Story

By: Alexandra Wolfe

Narrated by: Arden Hammersmith

Reporter Alexandra Wolfe’s biting but admiring story of Silicon Valley, and the men and women whose hubris and ambition are changing the world.

Each year, young people from around the world go to Silicon Valley to hatch an idea, start a company, strike it rich, and become powerful and famous. In “a jauntily paced anthropological look at Northern California’s techtopia” (Bloomberg Businessweek), reporter and columnist for The Wall Street Journal Alexandra Wolfe follows three of these upstarts who have “stopped out” of college and real life in the hopes of becoming the next Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk.

Meet the billionaires who go to training clubs for thirty-minute “body slams” designed to fit in with the start-up schedule; attend parties where people devour peanut butter-and-jelly sushi rolls; and date and seduce in a romantic culture in which thick glasses, baggy jeans, and a t-shirt is the costume of any sex symbol (and where a jacket and tie symbolize mediocrity). Through Wolfe’s eyes, we discover how they date and marry, how they dress and live, how they plot and dream, and how they have created a business world and an economic order that has made us all devotees of them.

In her blistering and hysterical examination of this new ruling class, Wolfe “offers a revealing peek inside the privilege, power, and profligacy of Silicon Valley” (Town & Country). Valley of the Gods “captures the absurdity of this brave new world, pierces the hype, but also conveys the dreams and the passions that can shape a world’s economy” (USA TODAY).

That voice

Very interesting and insightful. I have to add the voiceover was one of the most flawless and pleasant I have heard.

Great Insider's Guide to navigating Silicon Valley

Helped me to learn more about the subcultures of Silicon Valley; the people, places, habits, and mindset of the most influential people in Silicon Valley.

Tells it like it is...

No mirages here...just real facts, experiences, lives, and observations. Great Book. Listen to it!

kind of interesting, but lack real depth.

This had a decent story line but the information was delivered in a slow manner and really didn't have that page turner appeal .

Meh

Interesting info about the social side of Silicon Valley and all that but romanticized it and heavily overplayed the stereotypes of nerdy coder with no social skills vs the banker on the east coast. It also didn't really talk about the work these people were doing at all. Not much exposure to thiel himself either. Overall would not recommend, listen to something else