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Bound With These Titles
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Summary
Summary
From veteran online journalist and BuzzFeed writer Doree Shafrir comes a hilarious debut novel that proves there are some dilemmas that no app can solve.
Mack McAllister has a $600 million dollar idea. His mindfulness app, TakeOff , is already the hottest thing in tech and he's about to launch a new and improved version that promises to bring investors running and may turn his brainchild into a $1 billion dollar business -- in startup parlance, an elusive unicorn.
Katya Pasternack is hungry for a scoop that will drive traffic. An ambitious young journalist at a gossipy tech blog, Katya knows that she needs more than another PR friendly puff piece to make her the go-to byline for industry news.
Sabrina Choe Blum just wants to stay afloat. The exhausted mother of two and failed creative writer is trying to escape from her credit card debt and an inattentive husband-who also happens to be Katya's boss-as she rejoins a work force that has gotten younger, hipper, and much more computer literate since she's been away.
Before the ink on Mack's latest round of funding is dry, an errant text message hints that he may be working a bit too closely for comfort with a young social media manager in his office. When Mack's bad behavior collides with Katya's search for a salacious post, Sabrina gets caught in the middle as TakeOff goes viral for all the wrong reasons. As the fallout from Mack's scandal engulfs the lower Manhattan office building where all three work, it's up to Katya and Sabrina to write the story the men in their lives would prefer remain untold.
An assured, observant debut from the veteran online journalist Doree Shafrir, Startup is a sharp, hugely entertaining story of youth, ambition, love, money and technology's inability to hack human nature.
"A biting and astute debut novel [with] many delights."-Lara Vapnyar, New York Times Book Review
Author Notes
Doree Shafrir is a senior culture writer at BuzzFeed News and has written for New York Magazine , Slate , The Awl , Rolling Stone , Wired , and other publications. A former resident of Brooklyn, she now lives in Los Angeles with her husband Matt Mira, a comedy writer and podcaster, and their dog Beau.
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In her debut, BuzzFeed culture writer Shafrir skewers a world she knows well-startup culture and the outlets assigned to cover it. The story, told from three alternating perspectives, focuses on two companies renting space in a Manhattan office building. TakeOff, a mindfulness app, is on the verge of revolutionizing the world-or of failing miserably, depending on whether founder Mack McAllister can secure the next round of funding. Elsewhere in the building, ambitious millennial journalist Katya Pasternack has been given a mandate by her employer, the blog TechScene, to report real tech news, not just regurgitate influencers' tweets. Caught in the middle is Katya's boss's wife Sabrina, a newly hired (and, at 36, downright old) social media "ninja" at TakeOff. When a potential sexual harassment scandal threatens to make Katya's career and break Mack's chances at a billion-dollar valuation, the ensuing commotion reveals not only personal conflicts but also the not-so-hidden hypocrisies at the heart of the tech boom. Shafrir's satirical observations, about such topics as the nonstop snacking in startup offices, are often astute; unfortunately, they're also often made multiple times. Also, in a novel that seems in part intended to highlight sexism in the tech industry, the object of the sexual harassment incident remains largely voiceless. Nevertheless, this is an enjoyable send-up that, unlike so many of the characters it portrays, doesn't take itself too seriously. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Veteran journalist Shafrir, currently of BuzzFeed News, sharply skewers tech culture in a feminist satire that's as addictive as it is biting.At 28, Mack McAllister, golden boy of Silicon Alley, is the founder of TakeOff, a workplace-wellness app (tell it how you're feeling and it makes you feel better!) valued at $600 million (a billion, hopefully, not this funding round, maybe, but next). Katya Pasternack is an ambitious young reporter at TechScene ("Tech news straight, no chaser") who knows that while she's a master of raking in the trafficher posts top the chartsshe needs a game-changing scoop to prove her chops and, more urgently, keep her job amid an ominous companywide "audit." Meanwhile, Katya's boss, Dan Blum, downright wizened at 39, is unhappily married to Sabrina Choe Blum, a failed novelist and exhausted mother of two in serious credit-card debt. And as it happens, Sabrina has recently (and somewhat desperately) taken an ill-fitting social media job atwhere else?TakeOff. Then one fateful night, Mack, who has been getting rather friendly with Sabrina's young, pretty boss, fires off a series of unfortunate textstexts that, by virtue of the incestuous New York tech scene, aren't so private after all. And so the game is in play: Mack's in trouble; Katya's hungry for a story; and Sabrina, involuntarily entangled on both sides, ends up in the eye of the brewing storm. Increasingly fed up with the near-endless entitlement of the men in their lives, Katya and Sabrinaunlikely alliesfind themselves working toward a shared goal: to expose the tech-bro patriarchy for what it is. Exacting, though not without empathyShafrir renders even the most infuriating of her characters with unexpected humanitythe novel is a page-turning pleasure that packs a punch. To call it expertly observed is an understatement. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Mack McAllister, 28, is proud to be part of the (underestimated, he thinks) New York tech scene with his app TakeOff, which is all about making people feel better all the time. Sabrina thinks Mack hired her to diversify TakeOff; she's an Asian-American mom of two and, at 36, ancient. In the same building, 24-year-old Katya is devoted to covering companies like Mack's for TechScene, the website she's a reporter for under Sabrina's husband, Dan. It's time for Mack to hit up VCs (venture capitalists, if you have to ask) for next-level funding, while downstairs at TechScene, staff are being pushed to new levels of competition for the best stories. Could a misstep on Mack's part make Katya's career? Shafrir, a culture writer at Buzzfeed News, imbues her propulsive first novel with a strong setting and a firm handle on hypercurrent tech jargon. While everyone's obsessing over followers, likes, retweets, and comments, Shafrir smartly dissects age, gender, and workplace politics. Her closely studied cast of interconnected, true-feeling characters and fluid prose will appeal to fans of Emma Straub.--Bostrom, Annie Copyright 2017 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
I USED TO WORK at a place where we had to take annual sexual harassment quizzes. The quizzes were online, the questions were multiple choice. For some reason, I would always fail them. The options that were offered seemed either equally wrong or equally O.K. I could never pick the right one. Fortunately, you could take those quizzes an unlimited number of times, so I would eliminate all the wrong choices and mark the remaining ones. Reading "Startup," a biting and astute debut novel by Doree Shafrir, made me feel stuck inside one of those quizzes again. Every time a character would find himself or herself in one of those tricky situations, I would automatically approach it as a quiz, and every time the right answer would refuse to reveal itself. Let's take a look at some of the questions. 1. You are a young, overworked, desperately lonely male C.E.O. of the hottest new startup in the country. Is it O.K. to have casual sex with a willing and eager female employee? A) Absolutely not! B) Why the hell not? C) Yes, but only if you have enough common sense not to demote her when the relationship ends. D) Yes, but only if you're sure that the sex will be worth risking your and your company's future. 2. You are a young female employee of the hottest new startup in the country. You've been having casual sex with the C.E.O. but now want to stop. What would be the best way to break it off? A) To have a straightforward adult conversation with the guy. B) To ignore his texts, while Instagramming your new relationship. C) To quit your job. D) To file a sexual harassment lawsuit and spill the details of the affair to a tech magazine. 3. You are a young female reporter for said tech magazine (motto: "Tech news straight, n chaser"). You're desperate for a scoop. You happen to be at the same party with said female employee and see her phone at the exact moment when she receives not one, but three photos of the erect penis of said C.E.O. with a text: "don't tell me u don't miss this." What would be the most professional thing to do? A) Pretend that you didn't see anything. B) Take photos of the penis and save them on your phone for future use (either work-related or masturbatory). C) Blackmail the female employee into giving you a scoop about her relationship with the C.E.O. D) Publish the penis pictures in your tech news magazine along with an expository article that would potentially help all the harassed women in the workplace. 4. You're a married father of two who works as the managing editor at a tech gossip magazine, but feels that he deserves much much more. You've heard of sexual harassment, but you think it cannot possibly apply to you, simply because you're a decent guy. What would be the appropriate course of action toward your much younger female subordinate? A) Complain about your wife to her every day 10 times a day. B) Eagerly accept her invitation for a drink. C) Order her more and more drinks until she's sufficiently drunk to endure a kiss. D) All of the above. 5. You are a reader of "Startup" who needs to form an opinion about the following five people. Which of them should inspire your sympathy? A) The C.E.O., Mack McAllister, because he is so lonely, clueless and hopeful, plus he has "somewhat ungainly ears," which should automatically inspire sympathy. B) The female employee, Isabel Taylor, because she is a woman struggling in a male-dominated work environment, and because she is capable of wearing a T-shirt that says "I
Library Journal Review
[DEBUT] Mack McAllister, creator of the mindfulness app TakeOff, is making millions and is about to profit even more if the company's new launch is successful. Katya Pasternack, a reporter at TechScene, needs the perfect story to save her job. Mother of two, Sabrina Blum is trying to keep up with current trends in her job at TakeOff. Meanwhile, Isabel, Mack's underling, just hooked up with a new fling, pushing aside her "relationship" with her boss. In the start-up world, one tweet, snap, or post can change everything. So when Mack sends a risqué text to Isabel that both Sabrina and Katya inadvertently see, the clock starts ticking to the text going viral. More than a satire of the tech world, this story weaves three narratives, combining sexual politics, workplace drama, and the role women play in this business. Technology is not always as awesome as it seems. Verdict Buzzfeed writer Shafrir's debut is full of humor and layered in truth as she exposes the underbelly of start-up culture. Her characters will resonate with a variety of readers, from twentysomethings to CEOs. Fans of Camille Perri's The Assistants will especially love this one.-Erin Holt, Williamson Cty. P.L., Franklin, TN © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.