Rating: 
Summary: A very readable history of high tech & the money behind it.
Review: Readers may be drawn in by author David A. Kaplan's gossipy intro to "The Silicon Boys," excerpted in the June 14 Newsweek, with its sensationalistic "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" treatment of the Valley's new cyber-rich, but they'll find they actually learn something from the rest of this very readable, and sometimes very funny, history of high tech and the money behind it. Kaplan traces the technology industry from the development of the semiconductor to the exponential growth of the internet. He manages to make the most technical of topics understandable and throws in enough juicy details about the personalities of the industry (Larry Ellison's racy e-mails; John Doerr's driving habits; Jim Clark's new boat) to keep one from getting bored with it all. Even the esoteric workings of venture capital are explained. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Great but off track focus on small town of Woodside detracts
Review: The book is pretty good, much more interesting to read than Po Bronson's new book. It has the usual stack of stories with some new ones. It accurately depicts amply stock-optioned white yuppie scum, coupling their wretched behavior patterns and souless values (which will undoubtedly lead to a French revotion to thow them out of the gene pool). Lots of name dropping. Better than People magazine.
Rating:
Summary: Based on Newsweel Excerpt - A Must Buy
Review: I have only read the Newsweek excerpt so far, but based on this, it would appear Kaplan has written the definitive story of who, where and what to be at the turn of the century America as we evolve into the cyber society and economy. Looks to be a "bonfire of techno vanities" and a good read on many levels. Can't wait for availability.
Rating:
Summary: SILICON BOYS
Review: I read the article in NEWSWEEK and i loved it, and i am going online to get the book once it come out. Kol Hakavod Clyde Schmirtz
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Summary: History and Biography of the Valley
Review: What a fun book this was to read. David Kaplan's writing is suberb; witty, sometimes sentimental, and observant. "The Silicon Boys" chronicles the life of Silicon Valley, and the people who are building and built it up. By making the book part history of companies, and part biography of people, the reader becomes very well acquainted with the eccentricities, monumental successess and failures of this well-known region of the world. Kaplan describes the Valley, from the original Gold Rush days of the 49ers to the modern Gold Diggers of the Internet Revolution, and the duality that springs forth from here. The dualities of companies are examined much as the duality of the history of the region, such as the extroverted Steve Jobs of Apple, and his co-founder, the introverted Steve Wozniak. There's the obnoxious Larry Ellison of Oracle, and the down-to-earth Bob Metcalfe of 3Com. Of course, Netscape and Microsoft (Internet Explorer) get some print-time too. Sure, any writer can detail the life of Silicon Valley, but Kaplan himself makes the difference between this book and any other on the subject. It's not dry and completely objective; there's contempt for Ellison of Oracle, and there's a great little story about how the author could've been worth hundreds of millions of dollars today if he just accepted an offer to work for a certain Web-site back in 1995. Definitely a fun, interesting and worthwhile book to read on the subject and history of Silicon Valley.
Rating:
Summary: Silicon Boys Book Review
Review: Great read on the culture of the Silicon Valley and how tycoons like Jobs, Yang, Ellison, Andreesen, and Clark built their companies. Learn about how the "biggest legal creation of wealth in history" all happened. Kaplan does an excellent job writing in a witty biting way.
Rating: 
Summary: Alternating boring and silly
Review: I really hate to not finish books, but after 200 pages of this one I put it in the Goodwill pile. There is way too much about the excesses of the rich and the personalities of venture capitalists and way too little about the history of the technology. I think the paragraph that finally made me stop reading was the one about how Marc Andreesen and his date enjoyed a particular movie, but the VC and his wife didn't. The author must have been paid by the column inch for this drivel.
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