Amazonia - James Marcus

Hired in 1996, James Marcus made his start at Amazon when it was still a 50 person "futuristic mom-and-pop grocery," selecting all the books featured on its homepage from a crude wooden office desk made of discarded doors. By the time he left the company in 2001, Amazon had grown into an 8,000 strong, multi-continent Dot-Com sensation, shipping hundreds of thousands of books, bikes, hacksaws and asparagus pots a day. But the center could not hold: By 1999, the Dot-Com bubble began deflating as the tech boom waned and fat pockets across the country - and Silicon Valley in particular - shriveled. Covering everything from Marcus' initial interview with Jeff Bezos and company picnics, to pointed commentary on stock-option wealth and editorial integrity, Amazonia is anything but conventional business history. Part memoir, part chronicle, part insider scoop, Amazonia is an entertaining and insightful look at the tensions between editorial and business sensibilities, art and commerce, technology and humanity. A funny, engaging business memoir. Reminiscent of Michael Lewis' perennial classic Liar's Poker or Julia Salamon's The Devil's Candy.