If you can believe it, this book, The Burn Book by Kara Swisher was a recent Mother’s Day gift. I actually had a perfect Mother’s Day this year.. My husband, son and I hauled up to the city (Chicago) and had a delightful brunch at Ann Sather, popped into an health food store for collagen and whey protein and then zipped over to Three Avenues Bookstore where they made too much noise while I perused. It was taking a long time because they didn’t have a lot of what I read and what they did have I mostly have already since publishers send me ARCs and galleys. I was just about ready to say, “Let’s go” when my son handed me this book and asked me if I’ve read it because I like Kara Swisher and subject my family to her podcast all the time. I hadn’t read it and wanted to so I took it and said “Let’s go!”

So what’s it about? It’s a micro memoir of Kara’s life as a journalist and tech reporter who was on the scene as it erupted into the monolith that it is today. Kara witnessed personalities and decisions good and bad made by the very people referred to as tech billionaires today. Swisher used to shadow Elon Musk on the regular and has deep insight into his character flaws, genius and all. Kara does not mince words or hold back and she continues to test drive new tech, speak truth to power and lay herself open to the art of the interview of her by other people she has put on the spit and turned round the fire. I admire her transparency and lack of concern over what others might think about her. I really enjoy how she refers to her ex-boss, Rupert Murdoch as Uncle Satan both to his face and on paper. I won’t quote everything Swisher has said about people ranging from Mark Cuban to Mark Zuckerberg because tucking in snippets here does an injustice to your discovery and opinion generating. If you want to know who all the people are that have brought problems to your home via social media, the computer and phones read this book!

Some interesting things… Kara braids together her backstory of losing her father to an aneurism during her early childhood, the challenges of coming out and being a lesbian among men who rank as geniuses and savants. Kara shows how quickly tech executives excelled and expanded and what was missing in our legal system to ensure safety and ethical practices. Kara also takes the hardline when it comes journalistic codes of ethics and never reveals sources, but if you know her archive you might know that her tippers are credible and often somewhere high in the executive tower that watches all the moves that pulse through the technology and systems that govern and sustain our existence. Swisher is also keenly aware of the dangers this produces for everyone who is an unfortunate beneficiary of the privacy breaches inherent in technology. She is not shy when sharing these dangers. I have learned a lot from listening in on her podcasts, On and Pivot. I’ve learned even more reading her memoir.

My main critique is that you learn about Kara through her tone and chiding. She doesn’t talk much about her marriages except to who and the resultant children. She doesn’t tell many stories that aren’t her own, her struggles being a gay parent or person for that matter. You don’t learn about any licks she took except from the network or media company that tried to hold her and Walt Mosberg back from becoming an independent media company. This is all fine, it’s Swisher’s book right?

I do find it fascinating ALL the brilliant men Swisher has positioned herself with in the male centered tech arena. She takes them on and down and in some cases is one of the boys. She’s kind of like a Fran Leibovitz in some ways. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this book and it has informed my choices regarding privacy and to some degree ethical investing. Give it a look and if you are unwilling, then give Swisher a listen. You might tilt your head and think and you’ll definitely have a laugh or two. Enjoy!