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| The Entertainment Review |
| By: Dan Lyons Publisher: Da Capo Press |
When The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs, an extremely popular spoof blog captured silicon Valley’s imagination last
year, Forbes editor Dan Lyons decided to write the novel, “Options: The Secret Life of Fake Steve Jobs.”
The book begins with Fake Steve being interrupted by an underling who has bad news; Apple and its iconic leader
are under investigation for backdating options, manipulating stock grants to ensure a high payout. Through the
books 250 pages, Fake Steve tries to avoid responsibility for the corporate scandal that almost ruined his reign. For
those who don’t know, options backdating is the practice of artificially timing stock option grants to ensure a high
payout. The Wall Street Journal won the Pulitzer Prize for public service last year for exposing the practice, which
appears to have been nothing short of an epidemic across corporate America, especially in the technological world.
The technique made dozens of corporate executives millions of dollars richer.
“Options: The Secret Life of Fake Steve Jobs” hits many of the familiar points captures on the blog, from the
arrogant aloofness of Apple’s co-founder and C.E.O. to the culture of Silicon Valley and the tech media. Lyons has a
keen ear for Silicon Valley humor and it appears quite a bit in the book. He produced a comedy that will have
readers laughing if they have anything to do with technology. There are certain moments when Fake Steve is so
naive it is funny.
The main problem with the book is the fact that is just isn’t very good. The book, which has barely the slightest hint
of a plot, seems to come across as a thrown together story that hopes to capitalize on the blog’s viral success.
“Options: The Secret Life of Fake Steve Jobs” is a small treat, and while it is small and sweet, it isn’t anything that will
make the reader feel good.
One of the major reasons why Fake Steve Jobs became so popular among the citizen of Silicon Valley is because of
the fact that the blog was trying to unmask him. Before he was hidden away, the question of Fake Steve Jobs’
identity almost seemed to unable to be answered. However, once the answer came to the surface that Lyons was the
author of the blog, the Fake Steve Jobs, everything associated with Fake Steve Jobs lost its luster and its fame.
So far the scandal of backdating options has captured more than 130 companies and eventually led to the firing or
resignation of more than 50 executives. Some of them are making their way to jail. It is easy to say that the story is
yet another mysterious corporate accounting scandal, but in the zero sum game of stock market investing, for every
illegal dollar obtained through backdating options, there is a loser on the other side of the deal, and it never seems
to be the wealthy tech mogul losing the money.
However, for those who spend a lot of their time thinking about the real Steve Jobs, some elements of the book will
really make sense. Anyone from Silicon Valley will want to get their hands on this book as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of the reading population will be bored with this book, especially if they know nothing
about technology.
year, Forbes editor Dan Lyons decided to write the novel, “Options: The Secret Life of Fake Steve Jobs.”
The book begins with Fake Steve being interrupted by an underling who has bad news; Apple and its iconic leader
are under investigation for backdating options, manipulating stock grants to ensure a high payout. Through the
books 250 pages, Fake Steve tries to avoid responsibility for the corporate scandal that almost ruined his reign. For
those who don’t know, options backdating is the practice of artificially timing stock option grants to ensure a high
payout. The Wall Street Journal won the Pulitzer Prize for public service last year for exposing the practice, which
appears to have been nothing short of an epidemic across corporate America, especially in the technological world.
The technique made dozens of corporate executives millions of dollars richer.
“Options: The Secret Life of Fake Steve Jobs” hits many of the familiar points captures on the blog, from the
arrogant aloofness of Apple’s co-founder and C.E.O. to the culture of Silicon Valley and the tech media. Lyons has a
keen ear for Silicon Valley humor and it appears quite a bit in the book. He produced a comedy that will have
readers laughing if they have anything to do with technology. There are certain moments when Fake Steve is so
naive it is funny.
The main problem with the book is the fact that is just isn’t very good. The book, which has barely the slightest hint
of a plot, seems to come across as a thrown together story that hopes to capitalize on the blog’s viral success.
“Options: The Secret Life of Fake Steve Jobs” is a small treat, and while it is small and sweet, it isn’t anything that will
make the reader feel good.
One of the major reasons why Fake Steve Jobs became so popular among the citizen of Silicon Valley is because of
the fact that the blog was trying to unmask him. Before he was hidden away, the question of Fake Steve Jobs’
identity almost seemed to unable to be answered. However, once the answer came to the surface that Lyons was the
author of the blog, the Fake Steve Jobs, everything associated with Fake Steve Jobs lost its luster and its fame.
So far the scandal of backdating options has captured more than 130 companies and eventually led to the firing or
resignation of more than 50 executives. Some of them are making their way to jail. It is easy to say that the story is
yet another mysterious corporate accounting scandal, but in the zero sum game of stock market investing, for every
illegal dollar obtained through backdating options, there is a loser on the other side of the deal, and it never seems
to be the wealthy tech mogul losing the money.
However, for those who spend a lot of their time thinking about the real Steve Jobs, some elements of the book will
really make sense. Anyone from Silicon Valley will want to get their hands on this book as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of the reading population will be bored with this book, especially if they know nothing
about technology.
