Local haters pile on Fake Steve

Options: The Secret Life of Steve Jobs has garnered critical praise from the New York-based media. It's not Huck Finn, but it's a good read — better-written and deeper-thinking than the blog from which it sprang. So of course the Valley's local hacks hate it. Last week it was the SF Weekly. Now, CNET actively dis-recommends the book as a holiday gift. "Fake Steve's influence failed to reach very far outside Silicon Valley, and so the novelized version of the blog has a narrow potential audience indeed," claims the unsigned review (cough yellowbelly cough), in a clear break from reality. "Additionally, three CNET News.com reporters who read Options agreed that the book just isn't that good."

This is how they get you. When a reporter has a personal axe to grind, he or she goes out and finds three people who agree. In journalist-math, three's a trend. Here's my edit of CNET's take: I'm insanely greatly jealous that Dan Lyons has a book deal. Don't buy the book! I'm so tone-deaf to good writing that I can work at CNET all day. So are three other people. Namaste, Dan. I honor the place where your book and my rave review for The Wall Street Journal — have you heard of it? — become one.

12:46 PM on Mon Nov 26 2007
By Paul Boutin
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3 comments

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Hraesvelg at 02:20 PM on 11/26/07
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Better than the parody blog spew, but then that's not saying much. However I rather enjoyed it (for it's own sake), and the review spite does seem to spring from a jealous place, but "narrow potential audience indeed" is ever so apt -- too insidery and full-of-itself bluster covering a full-of-itself socipathy persona, it gives you a serious ping-pong headache, going on and on like a 80s answering machine recording loop, forever and ever. Great the first paragraph, good the first page, 247 pages of lukewarm monologues later -- pure torture (but wait here while I go get 3 other people to agree with me).

Death also comes in threes.
Paul Boutin at 03:06 PM on 11/26/07
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From the inbox...

From:Caroline McCarthy
Subject:I take full credit!

Dude, my name's on page one of that "unrecommended holiday gifts" gallery! And really, I totally want to know what y'all have been smoking. I had such high hopes for "Options" only to find that the whole thing was totally watered down and the boardroom scenes were such a yawn, and every time somebody compares it to "Bonfire of the Vanities" I think Tom Wolfe dies a little bit.

Cheers!

Caroline
KingTut at 08:24 PM on 11/26/07
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"...but it's a good read -- better-written and deeper-thinking than the blog from which it sprang."

Sooo, are you suggesting his ghost writer aught to be writing his blog as well? What will FSJ do then?

And, please, don't feel bad, give CNET another week or two and they'll turn a 180: [valleywag.com]