Virtual Love

by Kim Malone Scott

Virginia Libert’s shrink thought she took the job at Google because he had cured her of all her neuroses; he believed she finally realized she needed to put some distance (like 2,955 miles) between herself and Mr. Wrong. He was certain she was fated to become Married. The Blogosphere thought she took the job because she had sold out and only cared about money. They felt she was doomed to become Uninteresting. Her business school friends thought she was too late in taking the job. They thought she was destined to remain Underpaid. Her parents were just glad the weather would be nicer in Mountain View than in New York City, and that she would live in a house with a yard instead of a walk-up with a crazy neighbor. They had given up on grandchildren, and just hoped she would be Happy. The truth is she took the job because Google would let her bring her dog to work. Her Golden Retriever, Rusty, had no expectations of her. Well, it wasn’t only for Rusty. Maybe it was a little bit for her, too. Virginia hoped that Google would be a little bubble of sanity that would allow her to block out the real world and regain composure. The thing that had caused her to lose her composure was just an e-mail. True, it was from Max, the man she had loved, desperately, for ten years. If you had asked her at any point over those years what she wanted more than anything in the world, she would have said, tears in her eyes, it was to marry Max. But, an email? He proposed via email?? The medium is not the message, she told herself. She tried to focus on the fact that suddenly, the thing she had most wanted was within her grasp. All she had to do was hit reply, type out yes, and she was done. But was she ready to be done? What next? Stick a fork in her? Would she be gobbled up like a pork roast? She read the message again. March 7, 2004 1:47 pm max@thehedge.com Virginia@gmail.com Marriage V—Bet that got your attention, didn’t it? This may be unconventional, but you’ve never been a conventional girl—sorry, sorry, woman. It’s just that I had a thought on my flight to London and I can’t get it out of my head. Will you marry me? I'd be up for it if you would. Let me know. MAX “I’d be up for it if you would.” Was this a booty call or a proposal??? It certainly didn’t make her feel loved. To say yes she’d have to believe not only that the medium is not the message but that words have no meaning. A roaring wave of NO swept over her. She didn’t just hit delete. She threw the whole computer out the window. The virtual world met the real world with a clarifying crash as the computer smashed the windshield of a car four stories below. But could any job, even a job at pre-IPO Google, really save Virginia from her Bad Romance? Was an understanding of the algorithms behind online dating networks going to liberate Virginia, or drag her into something even more destructive? Virginia struggles to free herself from the hangups that close her off to what might actually make her happy by fighting recidivism with the sexy and deviant hedge fund manager she’s fleeing, by flirting with the rancher supplying Google’s cafes, and by becoming obsessed with an anonymous stranger she met online...

Genres: Romance, Internet

372 pages, Paperback

First published October 16, 2013

About the author

Kim Scott is the author of Radical Respect: How to Work Together Better and Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity and co-founder of the company Radical Candor. Kim was a CEO coach at Dropbox, Qualtrics, Twitter, and other tech companies. She was a member of the faculty at Apple University and before that led AdSense, YouTube, and DoubleClick teams at Google. Prior to that Kim managed a pediatric clinic in Kosovo and started a diamond-cutting factory in Moscow.
She co-hosts the podcasts Radical Candor and Radical Respect. She lives with her family in Silicon Valley.

Reviews

[Srishti]

Nice

[Amy]

I was torn on how to rate this book. I liked the concept, and I liked the characters. I liked the story built inside a look at Google. I liked the writing style, almost diary like.

I hated the ending. I mean, I got irrationally angry at the end. Sure, Max was an asshole - but even in his email he said he was trying to reform himself. NoName was supposed to reform!! Not end with a "I'd rather have a wife that knows I'm cheating on her..."

I mean come on! She ends up with George? Sure, he's a nice guy. But there was no growth, there was really no connection. Who is George other than some nice guy from engineering?

And Caleb - WTF? That just didn't fit. I get physical attraction, but it dragged on too long for it to suddenly dawn on her that he's not interested.

The stars plummeted from a possible 4 to a 2. I guess the rating is really a 2.5. I would have given it a 3 overall but I really disliked what was under the spoiler tag.

[Remo]

¡Horrorosa novela rosa! empecé con ella por culpa de un artículo de Wired en el que se la definía como "la novela perdida acerca de Google". Pues no. Se trata de las ruminaciones de una chica/señora de 38 años sobre cómo escoger novio. Que esa señora trabaje en el equipo de Adsense de Google no es más que circunstancial. La historia podría haber ocurrido en cualquier otra empresa. Es cierto que la autora sabe escribir, y por eso he conseguido llegar al final, donde parece, parece, que encuentra a su Mr. Right en vez de todos los Mr. Right Now que va encontrando, con mayor o menor éxito, por el camino. En fin. No es el estilo de novelas que disfruto. Tiene un pase si a uno le va la novela romántica con trasfondo tecno.

[Ember DeBoer]

Well, the "Google as a workplace" backdrop was the most interesting thing about this book. The protagonist, though clearly an awesome manager and intelligent woman, was a tremendous dope when it came to romantic relationships (the story in a nutshell) . It was painful to read her making the same mistakes over and over again. That sort of flawed character is usually relatable...but only to a point. Her neurosis went on a bit too long to make this an enjoyable read (for me), even though the end was at least somewhat satisfying.

[Catharine]

Couldn't put this book down once I started. There's something about the characters that makes you keep turning the pages because you just have to get to know them better. The main character, Virginia, is so relatable -- in her twenties, fresh from ending an on-and-off roller coaster relationship that isn't right for her yet keeps pulling her back in, making a fresh start across the country in a new job, and trying to find happiness through it all. A great bildungsroman story that anyone in the process of trying to find true love happiness and purpose at work while growing up will relate to.

[Casey]

Super fun read , especially for a Googler. a little 'sex and the city' but with a smart female lead working in tech rather than fashion. also a nice revealing of the wizard behind the curtain so to speak, a reminder that even our execs and role models are people too, humble and quirky and flawed.

[Ray Duncan]

Felt pretty authentic as far as the Google work environment. The romantic environment, not so much. Why is the whole book double-spaced on the Kindle?

[Allen Malone]

A rare and authentic look inside Silicon Valley!

[Margaret Scott]

A compelling and incisive view of life in the world of Silicon Valley and beyond.

[David Sanderson]

Loved this book. Great pace, interesting characters, and gives a cool behind-the scenes sense of what it's like to work at Google. Couple great management tips in the mix too

[Ping]

Good love story of a Googler. Don't like the ending though.