But this month sees two highly-anticipated titles that tackle the topic of over-achieving in the most fascinating of ways.
Finally, she hacks his Twitter and takes aim at the reputation hes cultivated as a beloved science celebrity.
Its extreme, even a little diabolical, and Raney herself comes to regret what shes done.
James Browning
I wanted to veer from the script and ask: Whatissex?
What is a wife, a mother, a professional woman?
Do you think Raney would reject that idea?EK:Theres making love, right?
James Browning
And theres plain old sex.
And theres a spectrum of emotional and intimate states in between.
Raney doesnt understand any of it.
James Browning
By the end, I think shed be leery of any grand, one-size-fits-all pronouncement about desire versus security.
Raney doesnt see the problem because she doesnt want to see it.
She just wants to succeed.
But it wasnt easy.
What inspired you to return to that setting with this book?
Shes lying there as if shes a mannequin waiting for someone to come along and set her upright.
I thought, it was a really bad call for her to pose like that.
That photo drove me nuts.
I cant really explain why.
It wasnt like Id lost out on the Yahoo job to her.
So I was giving this extended critique while my husband ate tapas and drank a lot of wine.
Finally he sat back and said, you should write a novel about a female CEO.
Did any of that rub off in the writing process?
Theyre giving so much of themselves over to work.
They have to be getting something out of it besides a paycheck.
I couldnt physically handle Shelleys schedule: the spirit is semi-willing, but the flesh is weak.
EK: Obviously, you finished this book before the #MeToo movement burst onto the scene.
Yet some of Shelleys observations about male-female dynamics in her world seem prescient.
While #MeToo brought to light specific perpetuators, it wasnt news that these behaviors existed.
And something doesnt have to be Harvey-Weinstein-level terrible to hit you hard at a vulnerable moment and discourage you.
In Shelleys case, its due to a combination of determination, cluelessness, and luck.
Having spent so much time with Shelley, has her voice become a kind of Conch to you?
I am lucky not to need a Conch to optimize my productivity.
I have my moms voice stuck in my head, telling me to do things.
(And it never needs charging!)
EK: What are you working on now?EC:Im developing an app that folds laundry.
Im writing about a family, but its something totally different.
