The Bug.

Book Review by Jane
If you enjoy computers and would like to see into the past as far as how programmers and processes came about, this is a good book for you. But this book also visits a darker side to our working lives that all of us may face at different times: layoffs, buyouts, managers that come and go. In a similar manner, the mundane, not too close and personal relationships created in the working environment are addressed-- and where they take us sometimes. This book follows even more intimately the lives of two workers, a programmer and a tester. Neither have perfect lives. One is on a downward spiral that ends very sadly. They actually go down this path together, in some respects, trying to fix a computer bug. A bug is really what we now get a patch for from Microsoft every so often for its software products. But, they are supposed to try to fix them before they leave the company, and that is what the two main characters, programmer Ethan and “that tester” as he called her, Berta, worked on together.

As mentioned earlier, sometimes the relationships formed at work do not always give a clear enough picture of the individuals to personally help each other when things get tough. This book portrays such a relationship. Working relationships sometimes operate best this way; however, it leaves the employees vulnerable and creates the air for drawing conclusions in order to avoid looking at what really causes problems, which is what Ethan and Berta’s fellow employees did. Sometimes, the meetings the company had demonstrated just how ingrained some of the reactions are to things. At any rate, this book demonstrates how superficial relationships can be and also how interdependent we can be. It is an interesting look into personal lives and the workplace.

I particularly liked how this author cleaned up everything she wrote. You know and understand everything as it goes. She had an excellent beginning and ending for the story. Her characters are human and flawed, intelligent and ambitious. The author has another book out, which is a memoir: Close to the Machine: Technophilia and Its Discontents. I would like to read about her programming days and how she made it in a man’s world. At any rate, she is a writer now, and very good one, in my opinion.

Jane.