Burn Book

More about the book

An instant New York Times bestseller from award-winning journalist Kara Swisher, this account of the tech industry and its founders reveals how they aimed to change the world but often broke it instead. Part memoir, part history, it chronicles the journeys of tech's most influential players. Swisher, known as “the queen of all media,” provides the inside story of modern Silicon Valley and the unprecedented wealth boom it generated. While tech titans proclaimed they would “move fast and break things,” Swisher was breaking news at an even faster pace. With a long history of reporting on the digital sector since the early 1990s, her investigative prowess led to notable reactions from industry leaders, including accusations of eavesdropping and jokes about her keen insights. Starting her career at The Washington Post while still in college, she became a key figure in tech journalism, co-founding the influential D: All Things Digital conference and pioneering tech news platforms. Over three decades, Swisher has interviewed major figures like Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk, capturing the dual impact of their innovations. Despite the challenges she highlights, Swisher remains hopeful about tech's ability to address pressing issues and urges the industry to make more thoughtful decisions, especially as AI tools emerge. At its core, this work is a love letter to technology from a true insider.