Secrets, Lies, and Meglomania

A friend recommended BAD BLOOD: SECRETS AND LIES IN A SILICON VALLEY STARTUP, by John Carreyrou, to me and my husband the other day.

My husband then wanted the print version and I wanted to walk around the streets of Brooklyn listening to the audio version, so we splurged and got both. By “we,” I mean “I”—he learned about the audiobook long after the money was spent. (I spend way too much on books. With that said, I spend very little on shoes and tank tops and dresses.) (I look quite tree-trunky in dresses.) My husband says I’m “cheating” by listening to the book. “Cheating!” I exclaimed. “How is it cheating?” He refused to elaborate, and I’m still wondering. Is it because listening isn’t reading? Or because I can make progress on the book while at the same time washing dishes or doing laundry or brushing my teeth, and he can’t? Are we in a race? If so, let’s be clear: I’d win in any format. This book is compelling, and when a book is compelling I’m going to finish it fast. BAD BLOOD tells the story of Theranos, a Silicon Valley startup that promised that its handheld devices could detect vital health information from a small drop of blood. This was a lie, one of many whopping lies—there are secrets and deceptions on practically every page. Not to mention megalomania and paranoia. And there’s a comeuppance coming! I read mostly fiction, but I’m a sucker for nonfiction about bad actors getting the justice they deserve. James Stewart’s DEN OF THIEVES (insider trading); Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind’s THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM (Enron debacle); anything detailing Nixon’s rise and fall—they’re all favorites. If you have any such books to recommend, please, please do. I hope you’re engrossed in a good book, too