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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

With Amazonia, James Marcus adds to the ever-simmering stew of Amazon.com analysis a new, almost quaint perspective: that of an employee hired for his expertise in literature. Marcus traces the company's familiar climb, plummet, and re-ascent, but this time we witness the pyrotechnics from the book-strewn hallways of the editorial department.

After an abbreviated heydey, editorial talent lost cachet at the burgeoning Internet behemoth, replaced by metrics worship and automated innovations like "truncating widgets." Despite the demoralizing shift, Marcus makes evident the loyalty editors continued to display, a "quasi-religious devotion… almost impossible to explain to outsiders." The concept of making history was just too intoxicating for most to abandon (as were the stock options).

Marcus's writing has enough genuine humor and self-deprecation to squelch any accusations of "optimizing for optics," or worse, whining. Aside from a few sections that feel somewhat adrift (oblique mentions of an imploding marriage and an extended Emerson sidebar) the prose is driving and the voice engaging and remarkably fair.

For anyone who worked at Amazon.com in the early days, reading Amazonia is akin to leafing through a high school yearbook (I was an Amazon editor from 1997-2002). Nostalgia is inescapable--even for the irritations of the time, like All Hands Meetings (pep rallies) and the exaltation of MBAs (the popular kids). The thing about yearbooks, though, is that we're really only interested in our own. Whether outsiders will be as captivated by this surf down virtual memory lane is questionable. For alums, it's a lasting keepsake. --Brangien Davis

From Publishers Weekly

With Amazon.com firmly established as one of the leaders in e-commerce, it is easy to forget the company's early roots as a struggling online bookstore. Marcus, who was employee 55 and one of Amazon's first editors, provides a captivating, witty account of how the fledgling e-retailer transformed itself from a startup that generated $16 million in sales in 1996 to a behemoth with revenue of $5.3 billion in 2003. The early days of Amazon, Marcus recounts, were full of a do-it-yourself attitude, with everyone at the company encouraged to try different ways to drive customers to the site. In Marcus's case, it was writing and assigning reviews, the content designed to make people decide what to buy. But although Amazon founder Jeff Bezos began as a firm believer in the power of content, his philosophy gradually changed to what Marcus calls the "culture of metrics," in which everything connected to the site could be measured. And as Amazon added more and more products, the importance of content slipped away. It's clear Marcus's most satisfying time at Amazon was in the early years, even if that meant picking and packing books during the holiday rush. There is even a bit of nostalgia in his tone, which people in the book industry can especially appreciate: once upon a time there was a company whose employees scrambled to sell books over this new thing called the Internet. Today the company has become a software and retailing machine dedicated to selling as many widgets as efficiently as possible.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: New Press, The (June 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1565848705
ISBN-13: 978-1565848702
Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (44 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,016,615 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

44 Reviews

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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rediscovering the 90's with a great read, June 27, 2004

By	Debra Hamel (TwitterLit.com) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

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James Marcus's Amazonia: Five Years at the Epicenter of the Dot.com Juggernaut is a surprisingly quick and absorbing account of the author's five-year stint as an editor at Amazon.com. Hired in 1996, in the early days of the e-tailer's historic march to world domination (Marcus was employee number 55), the author watched the value of his stock options explode in value during his tenure, and he saw his job as a provider of editorial content become increasingly marginalized as Amazon turned to "personalization widgets" to automate the content of its pages.

For an Amazon enthusiast like myself (I placed my first order--for a copy of Alison Weir's The Wars of the Roses--relatively early, in October of 1997, and have handed over bagfuls of money to the company since), Amazonia offers a titillating view of life behind the web site. Have you ever wondered, for example, what a professional Amazonian's take on the reviews of Harriet Klausner (Amazon's top-ranked reviewer) might be? But the book also reminds us of our recent history, which, given the frenetic pace of change in the computer age, seems very long ago indeed--those early days in the mid-90's when the average man on the street was only vaguely aware, if aware at all, of the wonders of the world wide web. Remember PlanetAll, for example, an online datebook service Amazon acquired back when PDAs weren't ubiquitous? I remembered, but vaguely, once Marcus jogged my memory. Reading Amazonia, then, is an experience akin to reminiscing with a rediscovered friend from grammar school. It's also a great read.

Reviewed by Debra Hamel, author of Trying Neaira: The True Story of a Courtesan's Scandalous Life in Ancient Greece

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22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Humanist In The Dark Wood Of The Internet Boom, July 30, 2004

By	prisrob "pris," (New EnglandUSA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

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James Marcus, author of "Amazonia:Five Years at the Epicenter of the Dot.Com. Juggernaut", compares his role as a humanist/editor at Amazon with Ralph Waldo Emerson's life and work. He felt Emerson had looked at the history of idealistic thought before coming up with his own version. Ralph Waldo Emerson's Theory of Everything:

" Whenever a true theory appears, it will be its own evidence. Its test is, that it will explain all phenomena. Now many are thought not only unexplained but inexplicable, as language, sleep, madness, dreams,, beasts, sex"

How does this relate to Amazon, hang on this is going to be a fun ride!

In 1996, Marcus James, author, lived in Portland, Oregon with his wife and baby son. He was trying to support them all with his writing and not succeeding. He received an offer to apply for a job at this new Dot.com, Amazon. He flew to Seattle- met with Jeff Bezos in the small building that had doors as desks. The interview with Jeff was a bit bizarre- Jeff asked everyone what their SAT scores were and also included some esoteric questions. James did well and asked a question of his own, knowing Jeff's first job was working with Hedge Funds. He asked for an explanation of Hedge Funds, and how they worked. He was also interviewed by almost everyone else at Amazon and felt the excitement in the place.

After a bit of time, James and family were ensconced in Seattle. James was the first senior editor to write reviews of the books Amazon was selling. He met some extraordinary people and had good success. He was in at the beginning, housing in a warehouse, and saw Amazon grow from a small group of 40 or so to thousands and thousands of employees. He saw the growth from email account with CompuServe or crash-prone AOl to high-speed computer software that does everything. He and the rest of the employees all went to the warehouse at Christmas time and helped wrap and pack books. They roamed all over the warehouse for each order and learned the works. James saw the explosive rise of Amazon.com and the traumatic fall, where all of his colleagues were looking over their back waiting for the "pink" slip. James survived at Amazon, and if it was not for the death of his marriage, and a new found love, he might still be there. He tells us about these colleagues, their quirks and successes. His first trip to the Chicago Book Fair, and his time manning the Amazon.com booth. The funny stories of their retreats and company picnics. The goofy things that happened, the fun and excitement of a new start-up.

This is not a tell-all book, James wrote and perfected the first 45 word review known as" haiku of book criticism." I am a reviewer at Amazon, and I have great interest in how the gold stars, rankings and Jeff Bezos philosophy "Every day is the first day of Amazon.com " works. This is an inside look at Amazon- the fun and the freakiness. A book hard to put down.
James Marcus is an excellent writer- informative, funny and precise. I finished the book feeling like I have met people who worked at a succesful company that includes community and understands the real world of commerce. prisrob

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining look at a "utopian frat house"..., May 27, 2006

By	Cynthia K. Robertson (beverly, new jersey USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Amazonia: Five Years at the Epicenter of the Dot.Com Juggernaut (Paperback)

Amazonia: Five Years at the Epicenter of the Dot.com Juggernaut by James Marcus is an entertaining little book about one man's experience working as a book reviewer for Amazon.

James Marcus signed up for Amazon as employee number 77 and watched the company soar to over 8000 employees. At the beginning, the author calls the company a "utopian frat house," and something that "resembled a science project executed by the smartest kid in the class." Jeff Bezos was going places, and working at Amazon in the beginning was as exciting as a thrill ride. While pay and benefits weren't always the best, the stock options were mind boggling. At one time, Marcus' stock options were worth $9 million on paper.

In the course of his five year tenure, the author wrote reviews, interviewed authors, selected featured books, took care of the homepage, and gave interviews to CNN on holiday book selections. When the holidays approached, almost all employees were expected to spend time in the warehouse. Marcus writes a witty account of working the conveyer belt trying to package book orders, "surely we were in Lucy-and-Ethel territory here."

Unfortunately, Amazon stumbled as it grew and it started accumulating other companies and trying new products. Soon they were selling toys, internet cards, tools, electronics, kitchen wares and featuring an on-line auction (similar to eBay). Some of these ventures sunk like a stone, and soon weeds were starting to take over this "high-tech hot house." The dot.com market also tumbled and Amazon stock prices went with it.

I thought that Amazonia could have included a little more about the author's personal life. He gives only very brief snippets of what is happening on that level. Also, Marcus likes to impress us with his giant vocabulary, which gets distracting at times. I also thought the comparisons between Emerson and the internet a stretch. But Amazonia is still a fine book and I walked away with a better understanding of the world of Amazon and the genius of Jeff Bezos. I also wrote down a number of book recommendations. Marcus also has a shrewd eye for observing books, authors and readers. One observation I liked is "READERS AND WRITERS: their mating rituals are as strange, as intricate and engrossing, as anything you'll ever see on the Discovery Channel." So, Amazonia is a must read for a serious Amazon reviewer.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Not for startupers or others tech-oriented persons
While interesting stuff can be found you'll have to find them amongst the numerous digression Marcus makes throughout the book.

Published 1 month ago by Adam Twain

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazon.com in the 90s
With a near photographic memory, James Marcus captivates the reader with stories of what it is like to be an amazon.com employee in the 90s. Read more

Published 9 months ago by Rebecca Johnson

4.0 out of 5 stars A humorous adventure in a corporate start-up
This was a highly readable, and really interesting look at both the book business, and the growth of an incredibly profitable company. Jeff Bezos undeniably moved Amazon. Read more

Published 18 months ago by Harriet Vane

5.0 out of 5 stars I enjoyed Amazonia.
I liked it, it was worth reading. What amazes me is the length of the reviews and depth on this book. Read more

Published on September 26, 2007 by Gary Richardson

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Insight - Stunningly Honest
An exceptional, exclusive, and original look into the inner workings of the web retail giant Amazon. Read more

Published on February 4, 2007 by Dan S.

5.0 out of 5 stars James captures the virtual insanity of the dot.com era
This book does far more than tell the story of one person's career experiences in the middle of the dot.com Amazon boom era. Read more

Published on July 29, 2006 by Michael Erisman

4.0 out of 5 stars Not a diatribe, but an entertaining look from the inside
Marcus' work is often portrayed as an indictment of Amazon, or the work of a disgruntled ex-employee. Read more

Published on April 20, 2006 by Seth Eliot

2.0 out of 5 stars Epicenter? Not
There are too things you need to know about this book: 1) it is written by a former, slighty disgruntled, employee who was just that, an employee, not an executive that can shed... Read more

Published on April 7, 2006 by NYUDave

1.0 out of 5 stars Annoying
There is one aspect of this book that I found REALLY annoying which let down my reading experience.

I found myself searching through my dictionary almost as often as... Read more

Published on February 16, 2006 by A. Zets

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting read, but not the most inside perspective
I order from Amazon all the time, and so this book - about the first few years of Amazon's growth and success - was really interesting to me. Read more

Published on January 19, 2006 by Molly in Boston

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