GoKawiilPaulina Borsook's 2000 tech-critique book Cyberselfish gets new Tin House edition
Author Paulina Borsook's 2000 book Cyberselfish, an early critique of Silicon Valley culture, has been revived after tech critics like Gil Durán circulated her work on social media, prompting five publishers to bid for reissue rights. Tin House won the rights and released a new edition in mid-September with a foreword by Durán, following renewed attention including a New York Times profile calling her 'The Writer Who Dared Criticize Silicon Valley.'
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The episode illustrates how social media can suddenly resurrect a decades-old critique when its warnings appear to match current anxieties about tech culture, from 'manosphere' behavior to Silicon Valley's flirtations with eugenics-adjacent ideas. It also raises questions, which Borsook herself reflects on, about why her career stalled for over twenty years despite writing analysis that some now see as prescient.
- Cyberselfish, originally published in 2000, has been reissued by Tin House in a new edition released in mid-September.
- Renewed interest was sparked by social media posts, notably from critic Gil Durán, framing Borsook as an overlooked prophet of tech culture's problems.
- Five publishers bid for reissue rights before Borsook settled on Tin House, and the New York Times profiled her amid the renewed attention.
Cyberselfish by Paulina Borsook — This is the very book at the center of the article's story of overlooked prescience—Borsook's sharp critique of Silicon Valley libertarianism written 25 years before its themes went mainstream. Reading it now offers a fascinating lens on how tech culture's blind spots were visible decades ago.
See Cyberselfish by Paulina Borsook on Amazon → Affiliate link — we may earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you. Product picked by AI based on this article; it is not a tested recommendation.Source: wired.com — Tommy Craggs, 2026-09-25
Published there as: “Who Killed Paulina Borsook’s Career?”
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