Careless People

 Book 86 of my 2025 Reading Challenge

read from November 30 - December 5

Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism

by Sarah Wynn-Williams

published 2025

Summary (via Goodreads)

From trips on private jets and encounters with world leaders to shocking accounts of misogyny and double standards behind the scenes, this searing memoir exposes both the personal and the political fallout when unfettered power and a rotten company culture take hold. In a gripping and often absurd narrative where a few people carelessly hold the world in their hands, this eye-opening memoir reveals what really goes on among the global elite.

Sarah Wynn-Williams tells the wrenching but fun story of Facebook, mapping its rise from stumbling encounters with juntas to Mark Zuckerberg’s reaction when he learned of Facebook’s role in Trump’s election. She experiences the challenges and humiliations of working motherhood within a pressure cooker of a workplace, all while Sheryl Sandberg urges her and others to “lean in.”

Careless People is a deeply personal account of why and how things have gone so horribly wrong in the past decade—told in a sharp, candid, and utterly disarming voice. A deep, unflinching look at the role that social media has assumed in our lives, Careless People reveals the truth about the leaders of Facebook: how the more power they grasp, the less responsible they become and the consequences this has for all of us.

My Opinion

2 stars

Uh oh, I feel like I wandered into a firestorm by accident.  By chapter 11 I felt like there was backstory I'm missing so I looked up the author and saw the back-and-forth between her and Facebook over this book and the allegations on both sides.  The total lack of knowledge I felt led me to Goodreads to see how this book had ended up on my TBR in the first place.  That's when I realized I actually had a different non-fiction book titled "Careless People" on my list and when skimming my library's catalog, I didn't notice the difference and got this instead.

So without getting into the veracity of claims on either side, here's my opinion of the memoir itself...

I think my biggest disconnect with the book is calling it a memoir.  If that wasn't part of the title then it could be presented as a non-fiction book about the BTS of Facebook and its impact nationally and globally.  It could still be through the first-hand lens of someone who worked there, giving a little more leeway on fact-checking and research, but it would be clear the company is the focus of the book.  Instead, by calling it a memoir, I'm left wondering why a book about the author's life focuses so much on other people.

I also find it disingenuous for the author to continually throw everyone else under the bus with little accountability for herself.  I know everyone wants to paint themselves in the best light and think of themselves with the best intentions but if the author truly disagreed with every single morally gray (or flat out immoral) decision, it seems unlikely she would've stayed there as long as she did with the success she had.  It was tough reading her black and white critical assessments of everyone else and the lines she felt they were crossing while at the same time having no recognition of any lines she herself may have blurred.  That's not even my opinion on whether or not lines were crossed, it's seeing that she doesn't appear to hold herself to the same standard as she holds everyone else.

She also mentions not negotiating for a good salary and not understanding the wealth of those around her, implying she didn't even benefit monetarily as much as other managers did.  This doesn't impress me because it's either a) a lie or b) naive and nonsensical because why would you work so hard in a job you don't agree with for seemingly no benefit?  At least money would be understandable even if it's not the choice everyone would make...plug your nose, get your bag, use the money to do good and enjoy your family after you leave.  A throwaway line about your husband picking you up in your "dilapidated" car felt deliberately chosen to further illustrate the difference between the author and her co-workers.  Again, even if her co-workers made a ton more than her, I can't imagine she's working for minimum wage.

I'm glad for her own health that she's no longer working at a place she clearly didn't enjoy.