Anna Wiener Books In Order

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Anna Wiener is a successful American writer of nonfiction books and memoirs. She has recently written and published her debut book, a memoir called Uncanny Valley. In addition to writing books, Wiener is employed as a tech correspondent at The New Yorker. Author Wiener hails from Brooklyn, where she was brought up. Later, she relocated from New York City to San Francisco at the age of 25 to look for a job in the tech field. Before that, she tried her hand at publishing, but felt that her career in this field lacked momentum. As she had an interest in data mining and processing, she was attracted to the work culture in Silicon Valley. When some classified information was leaked by Edward Snowden and there was no response from the tech industry to it, she became disillusioned with the area of work and decided to leave the job.

Now, she contributes to The New Yorker as a freelance writer. Wiener’s writing has featured in various literary journals and magazines such as The New Republic, n+1, Times Magazine, New York, Wired, Harper’s, The Atlantic. Currently, she lives and works in San Francisco. When Wiener graduated in 2009, she went on to try her hand at publishing, just like many other ambitious young women. For this purpose, she relocated to New York and began looking for literary agents. But, the publishing industry was going through a contraction at that time and did not suit her as a welcoming industry. To fetch livelihood for herself, Wiener joined an assistant’s job at a literary agency.

After a few years at this job, she started feeling that she was stuck and did not see any hope of advancement. She concluded that publishing was not the best place for bright and ambitious people like her and decided to try her luck in the tech industry instead. This decision motivated her to move to San Francisco. During the years that she spent in San Francisco, Wiener worked on soft skills and helped in the interaction of companies and human beings. All those years provided her the raw material for the critically acclaimed book that she wrote later. Her memoir describes the culture in Silicon Valley during the period between 2013 and 2016. It covers the tech world’s solipsism and also captures the best & most utopian impulses.

In Uncanny Valley, Wiener has described the story of a normal person, who tries to make sense of the abnormal social structures in San Francisco’s start-up world. She was in her early 20s when she was living in Brooklyn. She was barely able to manage, spiritually and financially while working as a publishing assistant. This was a time when she put a halt to her literary life and made a move to the west for something solid. While in San Francisco, Wiener first started by joining the customer service segment. Then, she took note of the oddities of the Silicon Valley and used them later in her first book. Initially, the memoir was written as a piece for n+1 and was intended as a Lean Out book review.

When Wiener began writing the review, she realized that it contained all the ambition, failure, disillusionment, and disappointment that she was witnessing and experiencing. Later, the memoir turned out to be an honest investigation of the real intentions behind the megalomaniacal founders, tech bros practices, and wild cultures of Silicon Valley. It also consists of a chapter of the evolving life of Wiener. The memoir results in humorous and incredibly prescient observations. On entering late in the scene of tech book, Wiener says that while her future peers were planning meditation retreats and hiring wealth managers, she was taking care of roaches in her rental apartment, bicycling to concerts, and smoking weed.

During the course of the memoir’s development, Wiener was filled with lots of anxiety and doubt. She felt depressed and alienated for almost a year and a half. But, the subsequent success of her book helped gain the reputation of one of the millennial ladies who have articulated their generation’s motivation that feels new to everyone. With the book’s worldwide success, Wiener has developed hopes of writing many more successful books and publishing them in the years to come. She has also made up her mind to try and write fiction. Wiener is grateful for the much-required support she received from the people close to her without which she could not have completed the memoir. She wishes to keep getting the love and support of her fans, family, and friends in the future as well.

The debut book written by author Anna Wiener is entitled ‘Uncanny Valley’. It was released by MCD in January 2020. This book is based on the life of the author herself and talks about several chapters of her grown-up life. Initially, it is mentioned that Wiener was in her mid-20s when the tech industry at its peak. But, she was broke, stuck, and was in desperate search of her life’s meaning. Her desperation made her quit her job in a publishing company and move to the big city in search of better opportunities. Wiener arrived in Silicon Valley and landed a job at a data-startup. This job got her acquainted with the surreal world of fresh-faced entrepreneurs, extravagance, and dubious success. Wiener’s arrival in Silicon Valley happened at the time of a big culture shift. The tech industry was rapidly transforming into a center of power and wealth, and giving a tough fight to Wall Street.

Amid the in-office speakeasies and company-paid ski vacations, corporate fealty and boyish camaraderie, Wiener was developing a Silicon Valley of her own in her head. This new development then enriched itself at the idyllic future’s expense that it was supposed to build. This book is part portrait of a bygone era and part coming-of-age tale. It gives a glimpse of the reckless, high-flying start-up culture during unchecked ambition, wild fortune, accelerating political power, and unregulated surveillance. Wiener has filled the book with candor, heart, and wit. She has deftly charted the tech industry’s transformation into a liability that endangers democracy and has given a personal account of ambivalence, disillusionment, and aspiration.