Burn Book is that rare thing: a book about tech that can be enjoyed by readers who are not that into tech. It is a witty and engaging account of the rise (and often fall) of internet companies and the often dysfunctional talents behind them, told by an exceptionally well-connected outsider.
Kara Swisher is somehow regarded as both Silicon Valley’s “most feared” and “well-liked” journalist. Perhaps this is best encapsulated in her rollercoaster relationship with Elon Musk, whom she knew, liked and often defended, but publicly fell out with a month after his Twitter purchase was finalised, telling him, “You may be my greatest disappointment in 25 years of covering tech.”
Swisher claims to have been born in the same year as the internet: 1962. Even as a child, “why” was her favourite word.
