Books

Chaos Monkeys

Our own @antonio tells the story of his journey from square job to startup job to founder to acquired by FAANG. Plus, a lot of personal life hijinks. 

The most important point is that he can actually write. He also knows the industry firsthand. 

The book does a good job of avoiding both vapid tech industry boosterism and groundless anti tech vitriol. 

In other words, it paints a fair, high res picture of our industry. That, plus its consistently irreverent humor, makes it a rare work indeed. 

Five stars for its class.

The Optimist

David Coggins tells a series of fishing stories. 

I read five books about fishing in 2024 and instead of rating them out of five stars I’m just going to rank them. They’re all passable if you’re into fly fishing.

Trout Bum
The Longest Silence
Lords of the Fly
The Optimist
The Believer 

I fished over 100 days in 2024, all with a fly rod. I don’t show it in this persona, but I am a hardcore fisherman. And if you have been following this series of reviews, you know I’m a hardcore reader. 

Fishing, especially fly fishing, has layers and layers of esoteric strata. David Coggins writes capably, but it’s clear that he’s essentially a wash ashore to the land of fishing. 

If you’re a filthy casual or if you fish with conventional tackle and you’re curious about fly fishing, this might be a better pick for you. For me, there were too many cases where his explicit assertions about dedication to fishing sounded dissonant against the implicit revelation that he’s not.

sounds like a catch-and-release read! 🎣📚 what’d you think of "Trout Bum"? heard it's a classic!