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265 reviews for:
The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal
Ben Mezrich
3.36 AVERAGE
265 reviews for:
The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal
Ben Mezrich
3.36 AVERAGE
The social network is one of my go to easy watch movies so I was curious to see how much was dramatised for the big screen.
Still an interesting read despite being less dramatic then the movie
Still an interesting read despite being less dramatic then the movie
If I could give it two and a half, I would. It was incredibly difficult to follow at times, and downright boring at others. This is one instance where I definitely thing the movie was better than the book, though after reading it, I know why the movie was so disjointed.
informative
fast-paced
The title is a bit misleading and the book lacks a lot due to Mark Zuckerberg's refusal to participate, but it was still a good read.
Would have made an excellent long article in the New Yorker, Atlantic, or some such journal. Interesting topic(s), but really no enough actual content for a book. Slow phases with imagined scenes such as "Mark might have taken another swig of his beer as he contemplated how evil Harvard women were and plotted his revenge." Etc.
In truth, I skimmed more than read. Perhaps reading this closer to the explosion of Facebook would have been more interesting, but I felt like I wasn't learning anything I didn't already know. And Ben Mezrich-meh.
"The thing about the Internet was, it wasn't pencil, it was pen. You put something out there, you couldn't erase it."
The novel on which the 2010 film "The Social Network" was based. Mark Zuckerberg declined to be a part of this story of course. Merzich states at the beginning that preface as well as that many of the perspectives were taken from communication with Eduardo Saverin, and other areas were based solely on assumptions. There can be parts where this faults the story since no one can get into the head of Mark Zuckerberg. But I can't help but be fascinated by the speed at which Facebook grew. It's honestly shocking how quickly life changed for everyone involved. Book is very sympathetic to Saverin's side of the story. Fascinating story of friends to foes, success to greed, etc.
I think the movie does a better job with the help of Aaron Sorkin's phenomenal writing to tell this story. Also, you get to watch Andrew Garfield smash laptops which is cool.
The novel on which the 2010 film "The Social Network" was based. Mark Zuckerberg declined to be a part of this story of course. Merzich states at the beginning that preface as well as that many of the perspectives were taken from communication with Eduardo Saverin, and other areas were based solely on assumptions. There can be parts where this faults the story since no one can get into the head of Mark Zuckerberg. But I can't help but be fascinated by the speed at which Facebook grew. It's honestly shocking how quickly life changed for everyone involved. Book is very sympathetic to Saverin's side of the story. Fascinating story of friends to foes, success to greed, etc.
I think the movie does a better job with the help of Aaron Sorkin's phenomenal writing to tell this story. Also, you get to watch Andrew Garfield smash laptops which is cool.
Accidental Billionaires gives an entertaining look into the early days of a startup and the various obstacle courses and roller-coasters encountered along the way by its incredibly intelligent and driven founders. I love learning about the adventure of Silicon Valley--VCs, politicking, and game-changing dreams. I don't think anyone would call Facebook's founding a "tale of sex" but Mezrich keeps the overstated glamorization to a respectable yet engaging minimum. Zuckerberg, having declined interviews, is portrayed as a bit of a jerk--and there's some truth to that--and Mezrich's necessary conjecture regarding his emotions and plans gets a little stilted ("must have thought") at times. I do appreciate the nod toward journalistic integrity though.
I'd recommend this one--two hundred pages of colorful, well-paced action.
I'd recommend this one--two hundred pages of colorful, well-paced action.
adventurous
informative
medium-paced