Palo Alto

English language

Published Aug. 22, 2023 by Little Brown & Company.

ISBN:: 978-0-316-59202-4

(2 reviews)

Palo Alto’s weather is temperate, its people are educated and enterprising, its corporations are spiritually and materially ambitious and demonstrably world-changing. Palo Alto is also a haunted toxic waste dump built on stolen Indian burial grounds, and an integral part of the capitalist world system.

In PALO ALTO, the first comprehensive, global history of Silicon Valley, Malcolm Harris examines how and why Northern California evolved in the particular, consequential way it did, tracing the ideologies, technologies, and policies that have been engineered there over the course of 150 years of Anglo settler colonialism, from IQ tests to the "tragedy of the commons," racial genetics, and "broken windows" theory. The Internet and computers, too. It's a story about how a small American suburb became a powerful engine for economic growth and war, and how it came to lead the world into a surprisingly disastrous 21st century. PALO ALTO is an urgent …

Palo Alto’s weather is temperate, its people are educated and enterprising, its corporations are spiritually and materially ambitious and demonstrably world-changing. Palo Alto is also a haunted toxic waste dump built on stolen Indian burial grounds, and an integral part of the capitalist world system.

In PALO ALTO, the first comprehensive, global history of Silicon Valley, Malcolm Harris examines how and why Northern California evolved in the particular, consequential way it did, tracing the ideologies, technologies, and policies that have been engineered there over the course of 150 years of Anglo settler colonialism, from IQ tests to the "tragedy of the commons," racial genetics, and "broken windows" theory. The Internet and computers, too. It's a story about how a small American suburb became a powerful engine for economic growth and war, and how it came to lead the world into a surprisingly disastrous 21st century. PALO ALTO is an urgent and visionary history of the way we live now, one that ends with a clear-eyed, radical proposition for how we might begin to change course.

2 editions

anaulin@bookwyrm.social reviewed Palo Alto by Malcolm Harris

Some interesting tidbits, but mostly a try-hard slog through bloated prose

2 stars

I learned some new things about the history of Silicon Valley from this book. The most valuable sections were at the beginning of the book, which talk about the earlier history of the founding of Palo Alto and Stanford, and its connection to the "robber barons" of that time.

Once we got into the 60s and later, much of the content I was aware of, and for some of the bits I already knew about, I felt like Harris is trying a bit too hard to stretch things to fit his narrative. That in itself is annoying enough, but it also made me more skeptical about the parts of the history I'm not as familiar with.

The writing is below-average. Harris tries hard for evocative "creative non-fiction" style prose and pretty much never hits his mark. This book very badly needed an editor.

I only made it to the end …

I learned some new things about the history of Silicon Valley from this book. The most valuable sections were at the beginning of the book, which talk about the earlier history of the founding of Palo Alto and Stanford, and its connection to the "robber barons" of that time.

Once we got into the 60s and later, much of the content I was aware of, and for some of the bits I already knew about, I felt like Harris is trying a bit too hard to stretch things to fit his narrative. That in itself is annoying enough, but it also made me more skeptical about the parts of the history I'm not as familiar with.

The writing is below-average. Harris tries hard for evocative "creative non-fiction" style prose and pretty much never hits his mark. This book very badly needed an editor.

I only made it to the end because I switched half-way to an audiobook version, so I was able to listen while doing chores or crafting, saving the book from feeling like a waste of time.

Garrett reviewed Palo Alto by Malcolm Harris

Wildly detailed read

5 stars

Probably the most detailed read you can get on the history of Palo Alto and more broadly, how Palo Alto nests into the larger vision of California, America and the world. There's a lot to digest however it demonstrates the thread throughout history, tying the origin of Palo Alto to the creation of many of the systems we lionize today.

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