Close to the Machine: Technophilia and Its Discontents

Description

Close to the Machine has become a cult classic: Ellen Ullman's humane, insightful, and beautifully written memoir explores the ever-complicating intersections between people and technology; the strange ecstasies of programming; the messiness of life and the artful efficiency of code. It is a deeply personal, prescient account of working at the forefront of computing.With a new introduction by Jaron Lanier, author of You Are Not a Gadget.

Ellen Ullman's Close to the Machine, a memoir of her time as a software engineer during the early years of the internet revolution, became a cult classic and established her as a writer of considerable talent; with her second book, The Bug, she became an acclaimed and vital novelist; By Blood is her third. She lives in San Francisco.

Part memoir, part techie mantra, part observation on the ever- changing world of computer science...[Ullman is] a strong woman standing up to, and facing down, 'obsolescence' in two different, particularly unforgiving worlds-modern technology and modern society * The New York Times Book Review *