Yesterday one of the first people Facebook ever hired went on Twitter to denounce Dave Eggers, whose forthcoming novel, The Circle, sounds awfully similar to her memoir about Facebook’s early days, The Boy Kings. In the process, Katherine Losse makes some great points about fairness (or lack thereof) as it relates to art, gender, and fame.

https://twitter.com/fake_train/status/380459391259910144

https://twitter.com/fake_train/status/380459552186961920

https://twitter.com/fake_train/status/380460404519874560

https://twitter.com/fake_train/status/380193032886165504

Just in terms of timing, it seems doubtful that Eggers could have stolen Losse’s idea outright: Losse’s memoir came out in June 2012, so Eggers’ novel would have had to be delivered to his publisher just a few months later in order to be coming out in October 2013. But it seems fair to say that Eggers will receive a lot more press for his novel than Losse received for her groundbreaking memoir. The question is not whether this imbalance is unfair and sexist, but to what extent.

Neither of these premises sounds original, anyway. A young hotshot joins an organization with dreams of changing the world, only to become disillusioned. Isn’t that just like… every movie ever? At least Losse had the courage to put her own life experiences on the table. Eggers’ novel sounds like a Silicon Valley sequel to The Firm.

– Brian Hurley