Years ago when I was living in the Bay Area, Tom Wolfe was hanging around doing research for a book on Silicon Valley. The rumour was that he left with the opinion that nothing interesting worth writing about happened there.
https://www.amazon.com/Valley-Gods-Silicon-Story/dp/15011470...
I haven't read it, but I subscribe to author Ryan Holiday's reading list email newsletter and he had this to say when the book came out:
"A nice new read about the Silicon Valley written by Wall Street Journal reporter (and Tom Wolfe's daughter). It's more pleasant and less cynical than Chaos Monkeys but probably a little more naive too. I was interested in the fate of the various Thiel Fellows since I've met a few of them over the years and was a college dropout myself. Wolfe makes the point that dropping out or getting one of these fellowships has become just as much of a 'track' as the Ivy League these days. Anyway, some great sentences in this book. Not sure how it will stand up over time but was worth a couple hours of my time."
I'm not familiar with Ryan Holiday's work, but this almost sounds like a backhanded compliment, especially when you consider how long (and much work) it takes to write a passable book.
It's no longer about Alexandra's book; it's about Ryan's tight schedule.
https://web.stanford.edu/class/e145/2007_fall/materials/noyc...
While big companies came out of that era, examined at the time and surrounded by since-deceased dotcom peers, I don't fault a reasonable person for concluding as he did.
This is the single most elucidating thing written about the cultural matrix of Silicon Valley.