Rating: 
Summary: Inside baseball
Review: As many reviewers have noted, this book is easy and quick to read. That being said, there is still a lot of substance. The author's treatment of the Microsoft trial in one chapter is the best I've read.This book, without a doubt, is the story of Jim Clark; serial billionaire. Not having a Valley background I was curious as to how seminal his role was in chaning investors' preceptions about companies. Undoubtly the Netscape IPO was important but was it that much of a watershed event? Lewis notes a number of times that Clark has no interest in the past, but the whole book is really about his past. The chapter on the Healtheon IPO roadshow and the Wall Street Journal article was absolutely great. Lewis can really write. The inside baseball aspect of the book is why did Clark allow Lewis the great access? What's the agenda? Is it to help the IPO of myCFO? I don't think so, but I wondered about the book's utility as a tool to promote not only Clark but at least HLTH.
Rating: 
Summary: funny and informative
Review: this is a very, very good book that is both entertaining and informative. Silicon Valley has turned wall street on it's ear and this book gets the humor, irony and just plain craziness down-pat. Lewis picked the perfect subject to profile in Clark and portrays him objectively, in my opinion. The book is a quick read, and holds the interest of the reader. If you're looking for a light hearted look at the insanity in the valley this is your book. If you're looking for a book about the nuts and bolts of silicon valley this is not the book for you.
Rating:
Summary: How Microsoft Screwed up the Valley
Review: I bought this book after listening to Michael Lewis on NPR. It turned out to be, probably, one of my favorite leisure books of all time. It is a remarkable story about a remarkable and ingenious man (Jim Clark) mostly taking place on a fantastic yacht called the Hyperion. You can appreciate this book at many levels. If you are an engineer/scientist you will enjoy this book. If you are an Entrepreneur or businessman you will find great company in Jim Clark. If you sail you will be nailed by the Hyperion adventure. Michael's excellent writing makes this accurate and detailed book a joy to read. I would have loved to read the pages where Jim slashes Bill Gates but they were probably left out to be politically correct. Also some sections in the book were page fillers and should have been left out to save time.
Rating:
Summary: Another great Michael Lewis read
Review: I received this a copy for Christmas and read it in one night! That, in and of itself, is the beauty of this book. Yet again, Lewis captivates his audience with a wonderful story full of great characters and experiences. This book is written in a manner educational and elightening, and so enjoyable and easy to read. This book is a must for anyone who has interest in the Valley, new technologies and the New Economy.
Rating: 
Summary: Lazy, pretentious and shallow is no way to write a book.
Review: A lot of the commentary on this book has focused on Jim Clark, the allegedly brilliant computer geek and machine-freak. Clark might be an interesting subject, but it will be left to another author to tell us why. To steal from Dorothy Parker, Lewis explains Jim Clark's life from A to B. It's hard to criticize specific points of the book, because it attempts to achieve so little. In a biography it would be a sin to mention, as Lewis does, that the first 25 years or so of Clark's life cannot be discussed because Clark does not want to talk about them. The fuzzy bit about Clark apparently being married twice would be another sin, if it were a biography. But Lewis is not promising to tell the story of Clark's life. In the same way that Lewis claims Clark is not a scientist or an entrepeneur or a manager or a financier, his book is neither a biography nor a business case study nor a history of the Valley. Instead it is a shallow set of ramblings of Jim Clark stories as viewed through the eyes of our intrepid writer. Any incident not personally witnessed by Lewis is given short shrift, as he obviously has neither the time nor inclination to do actual research. Apparently, his editors didn't either. One egregious fact failure was his comment that Microsoft (no, despite being Redmond, I do not nor have I ever worked for the evil empire) is the largest company on the New York Stock Exchange. For a former investment banker (see "Liar's Poker") to confuse the NASDAQ with the NYSE is unbelievable, especially since it is widely known that the NYSE has been practically begging Microsoft to move its listing from NASDAQ to the NYSE since its IPO. The book is also lazy. There is a scene where a team of people from Healtheon is explaining their strategy to some outside investors. Lewis writes that they were no more able to underastand software than he or his readers could. Well, Mr. Lewis, your job as a writer is to tell us stories and explain things for us. If you don't understand your subject I recommend that you leave this to writers who can. The writing style is another annoying feature of the book (after reading about Clark I now feel to let my annoyance run free). Lewis mixes Hunter Thompson's first-person gonzo style (do we need to know that Clark invited Lewis onto both is yacht and his airplane?), with the repetition of "Bonfire of the Vanities" ("the new new thing!" "Masters of the Universe!"), and a very shallow simalcrum of "The Soul of a New Machine." All of these other authors give us more, and make better use of these literary techniques. And that's the problem here. Clark and his companies are more than worthy to be the subject of a great book. When Tracy Kidder takes the time to write that book, I'll be first in line to buy it.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting look into the Silicon Valley Culture
Review: I got this as a Xmas present and I read it in less than 2 days.. could not put it down. Gives you a witty narrative of Jim's life and more so his attitude towards life, business and videotapes:)
Rating:
Summary: The best book i have read for a long time
Review: Michael Lewis is a great writer and he has proved it by writing the only book which captures the ethos of the internet boom...
Rating:
Summary: Quality read, a little soft on Clark
Review: Lewis writes another entertaining book. Well worth reading. Great snapshot of the Valley. Fairly cutting, especially of VCs and "old-fashioned" executives. However, Lewis could have been a little more balanced in his evaluation of Clark. It seems he had to gush about Clark in order to get such wide-ranging access.
Rating:
Summary: Fountainheadlike
Review: I liked the book because it reads fast and it describes the lifestyle of a true maverick "Fountainheadlike" individual who has created magnificent wealth for himself and others. The book provides insight into the events and people that shaped the Silicon V. phenomenon.
Rating: 
Summary: Under-, underwhelming
Review: I guess I'm clearly in the minority on this one, but I was frankly unimpressed by this book. For one thing, Clark simply didn't strike me as such a fascinating guy. He may be interesting to the same extent that anyone who makes billions of dollars may be interesting, but no more so. (The guy makes his first billion, and decides he wants a bigger better boat than everyone else. If that's not a cliche, I don't know what is.) In fact, I thought the way he made his money (instant huge wealth based on IPO's of money-losing companies that he may have first thought of but then had little to do with) wasn't even that interesting. I also thought the book lacked a focus and cohesive theme and that all the material about the Hyperion boat--which takes up huge chunks of the book--was kind of dull. I do think that Lewis has a nice writing style and I give him credit for that (I never read Liar's Poker), but I really can't say that I would highly recommend this book to anyone.
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