RESET: Ellen Pao’s Rallying Cry and Call to Action
September 18, 2017
Our new Igloo Book Buzz selection is Ellen Pao’s RESET: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change, to be published on Tuesday, September 19, by Spiegel & Grau. In 2015, Ms. Pao sued a powerhouse Silicon Valley venture capital firm, calling out workplace discrimination and retaliation against women and other underrepresented groups. Her suit rocked the tech world – and exposed its toxic culture and its homogeneity. RESET is a rallying cry – the story of a whistleblower who aims to empower everyone struggling to be heard, in Silicon Valley and beyond.
expandPhoto Credit: Matthew Dunivan Photography[/caption] Spiegel & Grau Senior Editor Emi Ikkanda: “I was alongside the many across the country who were rooting for Ellen Pao during her gender discrimination trial, and I was thrilled when we first had a chance to meet to discuss what would become this extraordinary book, RESET. She was among the first in tech to stand up when too many were afraid to, and I was inspired speaking with her and hearing about how she wants to tell her story to help empower others. Far too many women and people of color will recognize their own office experiences when they read Pao’s book, and I love how she then talks about how people can come together to drive change. She writes about how, when she was CEO of Reddit, her team shut down revenge and child porn and the worst harassment sites. She also talks about how what started as friends sharing tech experiences over take-out grew to into a team that launched the award-winning, nationally recognized advocacy nonprofit Project Include. I can’t wait for her book to be out in the world, as so many are joining her efforts to make lasting change.” [caption id="attachment_7805" align="alignleft" width="200"] Ellen Pao
Photo Credit: Helena Price[/caption] Ellen Pao: “I wrote the book to take people into my experiences so readers can recognize their own struggles or empathize with others with similar experiences. I called it RESET because the tech world needs a complete reset. We need to clear the biases and power imbalances from tech to give everyone a fair chance to succeed. And that might mean shaking out the people who don’t believe in real inclusion, and replacing them with people who have been unfairly excluded. When I had first joined tech, I believed it was a meritocracy, and I was shocked when I was yelled at when I asked for equal pay and when I realized that there was no way for me to get promoted. It didn’t matter how much money I brought in, or how strong my relationships were with entrepreneurs. I didn’t have the right gender. Attitudes are starting to change as more voices come forward, but we have a long way to go. What’s important is that we’re telling our stories and standing up for ourselves and for one another. If we do not share our stories and shine a light on inequities, things will not change.” Here is a sampling of early praise RESET has received: “Necessary and incisive. As Pao detailed her experiences, while also communicating her passion for the work men often impeded her from doing, I was nothing short of infuriated. It was great to see a highly accomplished woman of color speaking out like this and hopefully this book will encourage more women to come forward, give voice to their experiences in the workplace, and contribute to meaningful change.”—Roxane Gay “When women assert ourselves, we confirm the bias against us, unconscious and otherwise. When we speak out, we identify ourselves as troublemakers. This is why I look forward to reading Ellen Pao’s account of her tribulations in Silicon Valley.”—Catherine Mayer, New York Times “Vivid [and] fascinating reading…The Broadsheet covered the Pao trial extensively, but it’s a very different experience to read her words now…. Her willingness to come forward paved the way for [other] whistleblowers… The ‘Pao effect’…is real—and, it seems, just beginning to make its influence felt.”—Fortune “Ellen Pao courageously confronted Silicon Valley’s venture capital world by calling out bias and discrimination. She emerged from a public trial, media frenzy, and a fierce battle against online harassment with her strength, spirit, and voice intact. In RESET, with deep intelligence and a gift for storytelling, Pao movingly and passionately recounts her path to activism and advocacy. Her book offers a rare glimpse into the gender roles and stereotypes that still pervade one of the world’s most profitable trading centers.”—Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Popular Company News
Friday Reads: Irish Lit
March 19, 2024
"I will arise and go now, for always night and day/I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;/While I stand on the roadway,…
Glorious PRH Manhattan Night: ‘24 NBCC Fiction, Biography, Best Debut Authors Published by Knopf, Penguin Press
March 22, 2024
The first days of spring, and the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) Awards March 21 Manhattan ceremony, have arrived almost simultaneously, bringing the fresh air of…
Katharine McGee, NYT Bestselling Author of AMERICAN ROYALS, To Publish New Historical Romance Duology
February 29, 2024
Random House Books for Young Readers will publish A QUEEN’S GAME by bestselling author Katharine McGee, the first in a two-book series. The news was announced…
There’s a Book for That: National Library Week!
April 11, 2024
It’s time to share your love for libraries! National Library Week, an initiative of the American Library Association, runs from April 7-13th. This year’s theme is…
Friday Reads: International Women’s Day
March 8, 2024
Happy International Women’s Day! In 1977, the United Nations General Assembly invited member states to proclaim March 8 as the UN day for women's rights and world peace. This…
Bono’s “Surrender” ‘24 Audie Audiobook of the Year
March 5, 2024
A “Beautiful Day” indeed. The Penguin Random House Audio production of “Surrender,” the acclaimed, bestselling memoir narrated and written by U2’s Bono, has won the 2024…
The Penguin Random House Audio Team Has a Jazzy, Winning Night
March 8, 2024
Having a sense of déjà vu? This past Monday saw our very own Penguin Random House Audio team in Los Angeles for the 2024 Audie Awards®,…
Listen Now: Skip Dye Talks How Penguin Random House Fights Book Banning in a WSJ Podcast
March 6, 2024
Last week, The Journal, a Wall Street Journal podcast, hosted a very special guest: our very own Skip Dye! On the episode titled, "Inside One Publisher's…
From Black Creatives Fund to Debut Novel: Ballantine Books Releases Lattimore’s ALL WE WERE PROMISED
April 2, 2024
In 2021, Ashton Lattimore, an award-winning journalist and former lawyer, became a participant in the Black Creatives Fund Revisions Workshop. Today, Ballantine Books is excited to…