Santa Clara Books

Great overview of the valley history and key players who influenced the culture and its success. Ashley's recommendations on restaurants are eclectic and fun as well.

Highly recommended. I bought some for gifts as well.

Larry Laurich, CEO DRC Computer Corp

This book delivers as advertised. A great summary of Silicon Valley. If you've just arrived in the valley it is indispensable. Pick up this book and spend your time learning, visiting and eating through the locales mentioned. (They should hand this out to incoming students at Stanford, and at the immigration line at SFO.)

Minor quibble, the book suffers from "young journalist syndrome," where its history, anecdotes and insights are a synthesis of the bibliography in the back. However, kudos to the author for reading more valley history than 99% of other writers. He is headed for greatness when he finds his own voice.

I've been involved with the tech business for 15 years and know my way around the places and companies in the valley. I found this book hugely entertaining and informative. At first look, it seems more like a travel book or specialized city guide than anything else - which is fine and a worthy accomplishment. However, there's a whole lot more....Ashlee lays out the history of the valley and the reasons why it has developed into the technical center of the world. Along the way, he provides easy to understand explanations of the technology and how each invention and advance launched new ventures or opened new markets. Finally, he delves into the personalities of both the key individuals and companies, which, for me at least, ties everything together and makes it a much more interesting and enjoyable read. Highly recommended....

Like technology? Like history? Like good writing? OK. This is your book. A little bit travel guide, a little bit history and a lot of fun, Ashlee Vance brings his truly unique and refreshing writing style in a book that is required reading for anyone involved in the technology industry.

I suspect they will be using this as a text book for some course or another at Stanford, and then Ashlee will become a full professor and his head will get really big and, well, that will be that. But read it anyway.

This is a great little book. Part historical overview, part travel guide, it's written in the breezy, easy-going style of Vance's columns in The Register, the best of the online IT rags (except that the book has been carefully proofread, unlike a typical Register story). In less than 250 pages Vance has covered almost all of the important historic events and personalities behind Silicon Valley, and provided a great set of tips of places for visiting, dining and drinking. There's even a good list of books and web sites for further reading.

I've lived in the Valley for nearly 15 years, and yet learned a fair amount from this book, including several places to visit that were new to me. There were only a few curious omissions: e.g., Halted gets a mention, but Fry's does not; neither does Buck's in Woodside; and surely Frank Drake should be mentioned in the section on the SETI Institute? - but otherwise the text is remarkably accurate, despite having condensed many complex histories, each worthy of a book in its own right, into paragraphs or pages. Vance clearly did his homework. My only historical quibble is with his description of the demise of SGI. I thought it was mainly done in by cheap graphics chips from Nvidia and the like; Itanic was just the icing on the cake.

The book mentions his web site and claims additional information can be found there, but so far there isn't anything new. Hopefully that will change over time. Another concern is that quite a bit of the information in the book will date fast; I hope Vance and his publisher refreshes the text (or the website, or both) regularly.

If you live in the Valley, visit the Valley, or you just want to know what the heck the place is about, this book is for you. And if you're a geek too, it's a must-read.

Witty and fast-paced, Vulture Capital is one fun read. Fans of The Immortal Game will be thrilled with the return of private eye August Riordan, and also the reappearance of his likeable sidekick Chris Duckworth. Newcomers and old fans alike will appreciate Coggins' vivid, stylish prose, well-developed plot line, complex characters, sparkling (and also very funny) dialogue, and the novel's San Francisco Bay Area locations depicted in the author's own photographs that introduce each chapter. I say "Hammet is a Coggins for the twentieth century."

I enjoyed the book a lot. The high tech backdrop for the story feels very realistic and provides numerous insights into how this high tech software development and funding works (or not).

The whodunit part of the mystery is very engaging and kept me turning pages rapidly. The reader gets many clues along the way, some obvious and some very subtle, but enough are false leads to keep you in suspense.

Action abounds as the main characters Valmont and Riordan careen around Silicon Valley and the Napa valley wine country. There is also plenty of humor from these two very different protagonists who share little in common except a very sharp and biting sense of humor.

I really enjoyed "The Immortal Game", and I've been waiting for more August Riordan. I found him in Vulture Capital, but I also found a very interesting Ted Valmont character. The concept of Venture Capitalist as hero caught me by suprise, but I loved it. Valmont and Riordan make a great team. I hope we don't have to wait long for their return.

An extradorinarily fine and distinctive mystery. Noir updated and downloaded. And a savage morality play.
Focused writing. And it has enough secrets that it is easy to be surprised, even when you think you're ahead of the plot.
A cliffhanger, too.
Fans of Coggins' first mystery will enjoy encountering the Riordan / Duckworth team from a different perspective.

Vulture Capital is a well executed, slightly twisted and weird, but completely believable story about the dark side of Silicon Valley's start-up community.

Venture Capitalist Ted Valmont is informed that the brains behind a biotechnology start-up he's funded called NeuroStimix is missing. Without the technology guru, NeuroStimix's future is in jeopardy just as a new product designed to aid spinal cord injury victims is about to come to market. Valmont engages PI August Riordan to help find the missing man and we soon learn that the disappearance is part of a larger conspiracy to use NeuroStimix technology for dastardly purposes. To complicate matters, the missing man is Valmont's buddy and Valmont's own brother, as a spinal injury patient, would benefit from the NeuroStimix discovery.

Co-founder of a failed Internet start-up, Mark Coggins injects lots of local color into his work. Technology-types and dot-com veterans will especially appreciate the Silicon Valley photos and clever quotes, which open each chapter. Settings and situations will be familiar to industry types, but the jargon is not overwhelming. The book is even dedicated to the Pets.com Sock Puppet.

VULTURE CAPITAL is the second in a series featuring August Riordan, a private eye we first met in Coggins' well-reviewed debut THE IMMORTAL GAME (2000). THE IMMORTAL GAME received extraordinary attention for a debut title from a very small press. It was chosen as a Penzler pick and nominated for a Shamus Award. This would only happen because the book was good. Expect similar praise for VULTURE CAPITAL. According to the excellent Vulture Capital Website... we can expect more titles to come in the Riordan series

This is quite a book: a smart, easy to read, and important study of Latinos in California from the early 19th century to the present. Specialists and non-specialists alike will find here an engaging narrative guided by impressive (even stunning) historical research. Pitti provides the first accurate and sensitive portrait of the San Jose area's development, and he does so while showing how Northern California developed in relation to Mexico and to the wider history of "race" in the United States. Moreover, THE DEVIL IN SILICON VALLEY explains the many ways in which Mexicans and Mexican Americans responded to discriminatory treatment over time. The portrait of Latinos and their politics given here will be critical reading for anyone who seeks to understand Mexican Americans, the politics of immigration, and many other aspects of the multicultural United States in the years to come. Not to be missed!

This book is an incredible contribution to understanding California and the West. The author has a good eye for detail, and he tells a vivid story. Most important, he offers incisive analysis of race, labor and community in the Silicon Valley. The book is also enjoyable to read because the author has a very nice writing style, and he knows how to use his subjects' own insights to prove his arguments convincingly. This book should give activists, public officials, and residents a lot to grapple with. Highest possible recommendation!

As part of my doctoral research into the history of California, I've read several books on the history of Santa Clara County. Most emphasize the "pioneer" (read: white colonization) days, and the rest the technical magnificence of the Valley of Silicon Delight.

This new important work delineates the history of ethnic Mexicans in the county, particularly its East Side. From the poisonous mines of Almaden to the poisonous laboratories of the West Side, it has been ethnically based labor for low pay that has allowed the county to develop in all its prolific economic richness. The author's book provides an overview of these dynamics through research, figures, facts, and eyewitness accounts.

The "devil" mentioned in the title has to do with racism, and the book goes beyond the usual sociological and psychological explanations of racism to emphasize its classist underpinnings in a supposedly classless society. Also emphasized are the creative responses in opposition to it as ethnic Mexicans have made their voices heard and refused to be subjugated without meaningful forms of culturally enhancing assertiveness. Highly recommended.

Every Mexican American, Mexican immigrant, and Latino should read this book. Pitti lifts the lid on the Silicon Valley myth and shows that underneath is just old-time exploitation and injustice, and it's been going on for over a century. And thankfully, Pitti's a scholar who isn't afraid to call for action. My only complaint: too hard to read because the type was so small.

This book provides descriptions of all the parks in the area it covers, with maps that show nearly all hiking trails and advice on when is the best time of year for each. I wish the equivalent books for other parts of the bay area were this complete.

For over a year this book has been my bible for selecting hikes in the south bay area. The authors' trail descriptions are vivid, and their routes are planned well. I have two major grievances: first, their loquacious style can make it hard to determine exactly what turns you're supposed to take and when. Secondly, finding a hike is too cumbersome: you go to page 18 to search the map for the park you want, then back to the table of contents to find the page number for the park, then forward to the actual content. The map should be in the very front or back of the book and should include page numbers. Despite those annoyances, I still bring this book with me every weekend, and can recommend it as a good guide.

This is a wonderful book that goes into great deatil about the many trails in and around the South Bay. It breaks down the area by specific parks and then suggested hikes, including mileage, elevation loss or gain, and time. It even has a neat little appendix outlining hikes by category (ie., short hikes, hikes to see spring flowers, etc.) The text is detailed, explaining what you will find around every bend, and the historical information on the parks is very interesting. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to get out and away from the hustle and bustle of Silicon Valley.

I just replaced my battered copy of the first edition with the latest, third one, and it's a real winner! These authors' books are always educational, interesting and complete. And best of all they lead one into many fine hiking adventures around the bay. I've spent many a fine summer day following their instructions. It's about time they put out a new edition, because of all the new parks and trails they had to cover. Recommended!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, especially its accurate descriptions of my beloved San Francisco streets and neighborhoods. There's some irritating carelessness in the writing: the police address the flat-broke Bill Damen as "Mr. Damen" and his rich cousin, who lives in a mansion, as "Chris"; Bill cleans up all the evidence of an attack on his car, including vacuuming the interior, then reports the crime to the police; "Cole let his crossed leg fall to the floor with a thump"--suspect Calder meant Cole's *foot* fell to the floor; etc. In all cases, any decent editor would have caught and corrected these things.

The main characters, Bill and his girlfriend Clem, are well drawn and likable, and the story is unusual and interesting. All in all, it's more fun and more pleasing than a lot of the overly hyped books on the NYTBSL.

Just when we were nearly sure that top cameraman slash biotech private eye Bill Damen (like "Amen" with a D stuck in front of it) was actually another inquisitive San Francisco gay man, author James Calder gets him a girlfriend, the superspunky, supersexy, long legged American Beauty "Clem." Yes. Clem like Clementine. Calder's not so good with names, but you can always trust him to provide a mind-blowing plot involving genes and the mad scientists who think up ways to distort them and the capitalist types who exploit the science to buy themselves huge mansions in Hillsborough.

The tycoon in this book is Bill's own uncle Cole Claypool, head of a large construction engineering firm in the Bay Area that provides the "best erections in town" as he boasts. Sixty years old on the day the novel opens, Cole Claypool is still magnificently attractive to women and as determined as Soames Forsyte to preserve the family line, even if it means skirting close to the law. Cole Claypool (say that name five times fast if you can!) is a typical Calder protagonist, a free-thinking big spending bully who spreads a blight all over the land, and it's up to little fellows like Bill Damen to clean up the mess after him.

Cole's son Chris is busy putting together details of a huge Claypool project in Jakarta, and his wife, Janet, is spending the weekend with her family, and thus their little daughter, Margy (with a hard "g") is left in the hands of a nanny, Ulla, when she disappears, her body to be found in a park horribly murdered.

Did Margaret know too much? But what? She was only three and a half! Was her death tied to the death of Helen, her "sister," who had died of empysema at age six, much earlier in Claypool family annals? But how? She didn't even know Helen! Or did she? Anyone who's read any of the Bill Damen mysteries knows that the human genome is the trickiest and most valuable of human inventions, more sought after than blood diamonds and more alluring to the evil.

The Bill Damen mysteries give a smart, scientific twist to the classic San Francisco noir genre, and in this latest installment Calder grafts some serious questions about genetic engineering and the corruptions of power onto a grabbing whodunnit I had a hard time putting down. The characters are well-observed and cleanly drawn, from the sinister patriarch Cole Claypool to the shadowy Dr. Sabell, working at the margins of science and morality in his rogue lab to unlock the secrets of life itself. My favorite addition to the series though is Clem. Sassy, brainy, and every inch Bill's equal, she's ripe for a series of her own. All in all, a great read, as thought-provoking as it is fun.

I grew up in the Santa Clara river valley as did 3 generations of my family before me. I have heard the personal testimony of my relatives who where there at the scene. Charles Outland's book was like reliving those stories with my uncles and grandparents all over again. His book is the only account thats able to put this incredibly tragic set of events into a truely human perspective. It is also the only book that thoroughly explains the historical roots of the dam, it's principle players and the aftermath of the event. It took me 6 months to find a copy and at $175 it wasn't cheap. But, the content and concise quality of Outlands account made it worth every penny. Only 1000 copies of the First edition were printed so good luck finding one. I have read the revised 2nd edition (5000 copies printed) and consider it an even better historical referance than the first edition. In it, Outland adds a lot of insight and follow up material that were not available in 1963. I highly recomend "A Man Made Disaster" to any body interested in historical non-fiction. Steve Yewell

In 1928, the St. Francis Dam, 50 miles north of Los Angeles, collapsed, releasing 12 billion gallons of water. The ensuing flood killed at least 450 people, caused millions of dollars of damage, and brought the career of legendary engineer William Mulholland to a tragic end. Charles Outland witnessed the disaster as a Santa Paula teenager. In 1963, he produced the first edition of this book, the most authoritative history of the subject. Virtually forgotten until then, the St. Francis tragedy remains little-known today, despite the fact that, measured in loss of life, it is the worst American civil engineering failure of the 20th Century. Outland's almost minute-by-minute retelling of the story, and his careful technical analysis, make this book highly readable and an invaluable historical record.

Outland's "Man-Made Disaster" (originally published in 1963)is probably the most complete volume of the story of the St. Francis Dam disaster of 1928. Outland's matter-of-fact narrative follows the course of the flood unleashed by the failed dam, providing tragic and heroic anecdotes along it's path of destruction. The book then goes on th tell the story of the 1928 investigation and coroner's inquest. The final chapter contains Outland's own theories as to the dam's collapse...theories that turned out to be very close to the truth as discovered in a modern forensic study made in the late 1980s.

Author Charles Outland was a teenager at the time of the dam's failure and witnessed the events described in his book first hand. The prologue contains a personal memory of an encounter with a flood survivor on the morning after the disaster. It is Outland's personal involvement that gives the text a clarity and emotional context rare in such non-fiction.

This book's original 1963 publication included a run of only 1,000 copies making it difficult to find. However, if you are an afficianado of California history, western water issues, or civil engineering, it is well worth your effort to locate and read "Man-Made Disaster".

AnnaLee Saxenian has a clear vision of how the global economy is being transformed. Like Jason's mythic quest for the Golden Fleece, the new economic landscape is being conquered less by policy makers, global investors, and multinational corporate behemoths than by legions of modern day Argonauts - technically skilled entrepreneurs from many nations who "sail" back and forth between their home countries and their other home in Silicon Valley.

Traditional economic worldviews assumed that the success of companies and countries from peripheral 20th century economies - Taiwan, China, India, Israel - were destined to build on the successes and advancements of leading edge G8 economies (U.S., Japan, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Russia). These worldviews anticipated a constant brain drain from the trailing economies to the leading economies, assuming talent would aggregate and then remain where the opportunity was. And, until recently, there was plenty of evidence for this view.

Not anymore.

Today's global economic reality has turned this worldview on its ear - or at the very least forced a serious revision. The percentage of talent who come to the U.S. to be educated and then remain here to work has reversed - to spell it out: More people are returning to their homes to seek opportunity, even after many years in the U.S.

One current worry is that the U.S. now faces a brain drain as these technologically astute entrepreneurs exit our economy. Saxenian discovered that what we're experiencing is not a brain drain but a "brain circulation." Many, often two or more from the same country, are founding companies that think globally from day one. Rather than just competing on low cost - the traditional assumption of competitive advantage - they have mainly pursued strategic, innovative, value added trajectories all the while maintaining close ties to Silicon Valley relationships, technology and markets. Instead of attempting to reproduce Silicon Valley back home, these Argonauts are establishing complementary versions of Silicon Valley, each with its specialization. This has effectively given rise to a global technology business ecosystem. Within this system, the Argonauts are able to locate foreign partners as needed, manage complex organizations across cultures and languages, circulate know-how, and attract talent and capital. On top of which they make significant contributions to world-class education and research.

Read the entire review at http://insidework.net/resources/readinglist/entry-0000013647

Excellent view of Silicon Valley's now and future in the Flat world! This author is excel in comparing Silicon Valley with new 'Want be Silicon Valley' regions. Especially her comments on the differentiators that are based on lot of interviews are extremely valuable for these challengers. In summery, openness, strong wishes to keep in the leading edge that the author viewed as Silicon Valley excel are the true differentiators of the region from many others.

AnnaLee Saxenian has long been a follower of localized firm and professional networks in the hi-tech industry, highlighting their superiority over corporate hierarchies in her book "Regional Advantage." More recently, in "The New Argonauts," she has turned to ethnic professional networks in Silicon Valley, especially in the Indian, Chinese and Israeli communities. These networks, originally founded for social purposes, evolved to become professional networks for advice, capital and know-how for immigrant entrepreneurs. As immigrant entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley identified business opportunities in their home countries, the networks extended to support these new ventures. They also tied into their home-countries' networks through alumni associations and family ties.

Thus, organizations that were once highly localized began to reach across continents - and their benefits with them. Access to tacit knowledge (technical and managerial), a common understanding of entrepreneurship, shared language and culture have all been considered factors that are bound by geography and contribute to the success of regional economies. Now, they are transcending vast distances thanks to the kinds of networks described by Saxenian. New "Argonauts" (people who work in two or more regions, shuttling back and forth several times per month) literally carry market and technological knowledge, contacts, business models and capital around the world.

As a result, "Silicon Valley, once the uncontested technology leader, is now integrated into a dynamic network of specialized and complementary regional economies. These new technology regions are not replicas of Silicon Valley, nor are they becoming new Silicon Valleys [...] Even as the returnees seek to use their experience in Silicon Valley to reshape these institutions, distinctive regional and national histories ensure that the identities and technology trajectories of these regions are unlikely to converge."

Saxenian emphasizes the role of entrepreneurial networks over multinational enterprises. Multinationals have traditionally been seen as the prime diffusers of new technologies to "following" economies. In Saxenian's view, they will be supplanted here, as they were in the U.S. hi-tech industry.

Developing successful new products and services is one of the most difficult tasks that a company has. Unless your products and services have very long life cycles (something that occurs less and less these days), your growth will depend a lot on how well you perform. The book's premise is that starting with the processes that work for the rapid growth, short life cycle companies in Silicon Valley, you can gather important insights. That's a sound and intriguing idea, and it is well executed by Christopher Meyer. One of the things I liked was that he looked beyond Silicon Valley to find how other companies of all sizes and types were employing the same principles. One of my favorite examples in the book was of Emerson Electric.

Here are the book's chapter titles: (1) Knowledge -- The Motherlode of Value (2) The Loose-Tight World of Innovation (3) Leading . . . with an attitude (4) Strategy in a $20 Billion Startup (5) Relentless Approach to Innovation (6) Collective Power of Pairs (7) Measuring Your Measurement System (8) Getting from Here to There

The key point of the book is that each company needs to create an attitude among its people which fosters growth. Meyer does a good job of comparing and contrasting what what makes innovation work from what makes running existing operations excell. Unless you create this attitude, the normal operating needs will push out the needs of innovation.

Building on Intel's Andy Grove's advice about paranoia, Meyer proposes having positive paranoia in regard to the need or positive momentum and change. He also encourages companies to look outward solely, rather than inward. He wants a flatter organizational structure that blurs the organizational boundaries among functions. He favors promoting people who have a passion for innovation and what your company does. He suggests stretch goals that are acted upon, with the whole process repeated.

I found the thoughts in the book to be accurately portrayed and very appropriate advice. A number of the examples were also new to me, which made the book more interesting. A good adjunct to this book is Mike Pessemier's original research from the 1970s on how the best companies develop new products. The case studies in this book draw on important lessons from that research.

Don't sit on your laurels. Develop your innovation attitude by applying the lessons of this book as a first step! That's the kind of leadership that can make a difference!

Drawing from the experiences of Silicon Valley's "best and brighest," Meyer shows how innovation can be learned and managed. He introduces a model that synthesizes the core elements of innovation and he explores the organizational nature and leadership characteristics of successful high technology firms. Meyer succeeds in conveying the intangible dynamics of these exceptional enterprises. The book is rich in insights that apply to organizations who are striving for a competitive edge. Meyer shows how knowledge, creativity and passion are pivotal to creating weath and shaping the future.

As with his first book, Meyer artfully combines theory and practice in how to deal with success. This book applies well to any business aiming for high (35%+ per annum) growth and the tremendous strain this places on having a shared understanding of the company's goals, direction, and values.

Meyer presents many attributes of successful, aggressive information-age companies and provides stimulating ideas about where and how to steer an organization's culture. Maintaining a sense of urgency and challenging things that brought about current success are hard to do, but this book sheds some light on how to avoid complacency.

I find the book a tad chauvinistic about Silicon Valley, but the area certainly has an enviable track record. I do think his ideas will work elsewhere. :)

Written by an expert on corporate management and self-actualization, Top 10 Traits Of Silicon Valley Dynamos by Joan Clout-Kruse is a collection of turbo-charged stories about the Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and professionals who survived the cutthroat corporate world and achieved a dream to be rightfully proud of. Filled with activities to improve oneself and build confidence, Top 10 Traits Of Silicon Valley Dynamos is an insightful, useful, business "self-help" book, as well as an engaging journal of entrepreneurial success. An energetic and inspiring business book for the Fast World of the twenty-first century!

Author Joan Clout-Kruse captures the hearts of her readers with this compilation of extraordinary stories. You don't have to live in the Silicon Valley to understand the struggles and hardships these contributors endured to fulfill their dreams and goals. These people are not Silicon Valley millionaires, they are people just like you and I. The only difference is they decided what they wanted in life and they went after it! The book is designed to help the reader achieve goals and overcome common barriers. There are excercises and plans to follow, the chapters are short and easy to read. I think everyone should become a "Silicon Valley Dynamo" and the way to get started is to read this book!

I found this book very refreshing. It is simple enough that it can sink in deeply and easily. The 10 traits are a great help to encourage and motivate. This book reminds of some of our other best simple classics.

I'm not normally a reader of detective/mystery books, but a friend insisted I read About Face. It is extremely well written, gripping, hard to put down, and intelligent, too. I recommend it highly.

I liked KNOCKOUT MOUSE enough to give it five stars, but with ABOUT FACE the talented James Calder raises the bar, producing a detective story with brains and balls. This time around Bill, a documentary filmmaker with an interest in Silicon Valley technology and bioscience that I'm too dumb to understand, must let Rod, the CEO of an emerging company, cry on his shoulder, much in the same way that in THE LONG GOODBYE a good fraction of the action happens in the bonding between Marlowe and Terry. Rod's upset because Alissa has disappeared--Alissa, the enigmatic escort procured for him by Silicon Glamour, Inc.

ABOUT FACE will remind you of Laura, the Otto Preminger film about a detective obsessed with the oil portrait of the woman whose murder he is supposed to be solving--or so he thinks. From another angle, it is Calder's tribute to VERTIGO, and Rod and Bill both must face up to the possibility that their angel-faced Alissa wasn't necessarily the paragon of sex perfection she's cracked up to be.

James Calder peoples his romantic thriller with low lifes in high life and low, people who are truly the bottom of the genome barrel, and the result is a quantum leap over his first novel, which was in itself a very fine book.

What other detective novel would use at its finale the clue of a bowl of carpaccio? It's emblematic of the insanely privileged, harshly competitive world in which Bill Damen makes his living and which shatters his illusions . . . about women, about money, about glamor. Put aside the "Da Vinci Code" and spend a few hours with code-breaker Bill, you'll be glad you did.

There are also some echoes of Billy Wilder's FEDORA, and those who saw that wonderful film will know exactly what I'm talking about. I don't want to spoil any more of the twists and turns of this remarkable bundle of suspense, so I'll stop here, wishing there were six stars I could give this book.