Fiction gives readers a better picture inside companies than biz journalism

Author Joseph Finder argues in the latest issue of The Economist that his fiction books — which are always set inside a company — give readers a better idea of what goes on in corporations than business journalism in magazines or newspapers.

The Economist wrote, “Business journalism may provide plenty of facts and figures, Mr Finder argues, but it seldom gives readers much of a feel for corporate life. Fiction, in his view, can provide a more accurate picture than anything found in newspapers or management literature. At any rate, Mr Finder is convinced that corporate insiders talk more candidly to him than they do to reporters.

“He has found big companies remarkably willing to provide background material. For ‘Paranoia’ he talked with high-ups at Apple, Cisco and Hewlett-Packard—a computer-maker whose subsequent involvement in a real-life case of corporate espionage may not have come as a surprise to Mr Finder’s readers. For ‘Killer Instinct’, NEC helped him to understand what it was like to be an American working for a big Japanese electronics firm.”

Read more here.