In 1958, when John Cruitt's mother died, his third-grade teacher made a small gesture of kindness that meant a great…
'Brotopia' is April's pick for the PBS NewsHour-New York Times book club
We're excited to announce that Emily Chang's "Brotopia: Breaking Up The Boys' Club Of Silicon Valley" is our April pick for the PBS NewsHour-New York Times book club, "Now Read This."
"Brotopia" is an exposé of the dark, misogynistic side of Silicon Valley, and how that's seeped in to the everyday tech we use. Chang, a journalist and the host of Bloomberg Technology, employs history, interview, data and anecdote to tell the story.
In her review of "Brotopia," New York Times gender editor Jessica Bennett calls the book a "well-researched history of how Silicon Valley became a glorified frat house" — beginning with a 1973 Playboy image that became the benchmark for image processing quality, to a venture capitalist of today holding hot tub parties to test entrepreneurs. The book also examines how that culture can change.
In the coming days, we'll post discussion questions for "Brotopia," an annotated excerpt and writing advice from Chang. And at the end of the month, she will answer your questions on the PBS NewsHour.
Just joining? Become a member of the book club by joining our Facebook group, or by signing up for our newsletter. You can find all of our book club content here, or look back at our conversations about previous selections for the book club below:
- Naomi Alderman's sci fi story "The Power""
- Meg Wolitzer's novel "The Wife""
- Sandeep Jauhar's medical history "Heart""
- Casey Gerald's political memoir "There Will Be No Miracles Here"
- Katie Kitamura's psychological thriller, "A Separation"
- Nate Blakeslee's tale of wolves and the West, "American Wolf"
- Robert Kaplan's mix of road trip and political analysis "Earning the Rockies"
- Lesley Nneka Arimah's short story collection "What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky"
- Min Jin Lee's historical family saga "Pachinko"
- Andrew Sean Greer's comic novel "Less"
- Tara Westover's memoir "Educated'
- Dan Egan's environmental portrait "The Death and Life of the Great Lakes"
- Mohsin Hamid's magical novel "Exit West"
- David Grann's true crime tale "Killers of the Flower Moon"
- Jesmyn Ward's lyrical "Sing, Unburied, Sing"