Accidental Billionaires – A Review
I just finished reading Ben Mezrich’s latest book, The Accidental Billionaires. I am a big fan of Ben’s and have read most all of his other books. I picked this one up for a couple reasons. One, I have read a good bit about the founding of Facebook and wanted to see if there was a different point of view brought forth in this book. Two, I could not find another book in the airport Borders that looked interesting.
The book is an easy read, and it took me only a couple days to finish it. Mr. Mezrich makes it clear at the beginning that there are parts of the book where he is exercising editorial license with how he thinks the dialog might have gone, and that no one really knows because not all parties are represented for the book.
I have to say, in summary, that the book was more than a bit of a letdown. I remember reading Bringing Down The House and literally not being able to put it down. Accidental Billionaires had no such sway. It was boring for most of the book, it seemed to wander in and out of meaningless plotlines, and had very little of the intrigue I was hoping for. It also immediately loses credibility because Mark Zuckerberg refused to be interviewed for the book. As a result, only one side of the supposed betrayals and evil deeds are represented. It was far more like a soap opera or cheap nighttime drama than revealing insightful journalism.
I can’t say that I would recommend buying the book. There is enough written out there about Facebook to make up most of what you will get here. Spend your $15 on a nice lunch for someone you want to be around, and let this one pass you by. I wish I had.
