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Summary: Great Depiction of New-Economy Magic
Review: Michael Lewis is a fine writer and this is a superb book. In a style that I find reminiscent of Tom Wolfe, Lewis brings the contemporary Silicone Valley ethos alive much the way he did 80's Wall Street in Liar's Poker. Wolfe did the same for the 1960's counterculture in Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test and the take-it-to-the-edge world of military test-pilots and the pioneer astronauts in The Right Stuff. Both writers utilize exuberant portraits of their protagonists as literary mechanisms for telling bigger stories. In the New New Thing, the phenomenon that Lewis leads us into is the explosive convergence between radical technology and Wall Street that has in recent years brought about the fastest creation of paper wealth that history has ever seen. The individual that he zeroes in on to reveal the magic of this story is Jim Clark, who is probably best-known as the creator of Netscape. As a poor-boy engineer who rocketed overnight onto the Forbes 400 list of the world's wealthiest people, Clark is, to start with, a good representative of the class of new age techno-entrepreneurs. But as Lewis's vehicle to the bigger story, Clark is magnified into the very embodiment of the spirit animating today's "new economy". This entertaining, often hilarious, 268 pages makes it much clearer what's happening there than volumes of ponderous analysis by conventional commentators. If you can somehow imagine Abbie Hoffman as a brilliant and over-achieving engineer, you'll have some sense of the picture of Clark that emerges from this book. A born revolutionary with a prankster's attitude towards the established order, Clark is nonetheless deadly serious about technology and it's practical applications. Add to this a ruthless self-confidence and a pied-piper-like hold over investors and a coterie of talented, workaholic programmers, and it's possible to see how - just as one small example of new-economy magic - Clark was able to enrich his loyal followers and add half billion or so to his own net worth in a few days via a public offering of one of his companies that had neither earnings, a product, nor even much of business plan to speak off. Cashing in on vision, charisma, and hope, Clark has given the world a lesson in modern techno-economics, the wild and weird essence of which Mr. Lewis lays bare for us in this excellent study.
Rating: 
Summary: Riding the waves - Jim Clark's great adventures
Review: Jim Clark has created so much of the new economy in such a short time, that it makes sense that it feels like a storm at sea. While Michael Lewis is one of the best at portraying the most outrageous in the world of commerce, the coverage of the boatgets a little tedious. Yet in the end, it is understandable because the story surrounding the boat is such an appropriate metaphor for what Jim Clark is all about. Nevertheless, this is definitely illuminating for those who want to get a clearer picture of company formation, capital raising, PR, etc. It leaves you wanting to know what Jim Clark is going to do next and what Michael Lewis is going to next portray.
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Summary: View Into the VC World
Review: For the last two years I've been involved as an executive in a start-up in Southern California (close enough to Silicon Valley to see it from fairly close, far enough to be an outsider). I've read just about every book about Silicon Valley, the computer industry and the internet. This book is a good one; not one of the very best but still very good. It is funny and well-written (although not equal to the brilliant "Liar's Poker). What is best about this book is the way in which it peels back the curtain and reveals the insanity of the VC (Venture Capital, not Viet Cong) world. The VC in this book invest in these ventures of Jim Clark's, not because they are based on some kind of sound business plan, but because Clark is involved and they are afraid to be shown as fools if the venture makes money. In some ways this book is now out-of-date. Since the internet "bubble" partially burst this spring, the VC are acting more like the sober, responsible, analytical business people that most of them are. This book captures a moment in time at the height of the Internet frenzy. Some of the reviewers here seem to think that Lewis was fawning on Jim Clark. They need to reread the book or find their sense of humor. This book in a sharply sarcastic manner pointedly exposes Clark as a promoter and not much more.
Rating:
Summary: Another Michael Lewis Classic
Review: I have to say this is another Michael Lewis Classic since 'Liar's Poker'. Given my engineering and finance background, I find this book both inspiring and an enjoyable read. Through the story of Jim Clark, the shift of power from bankers to the engineers were humourously and vividly described. If you are a banker, you may find some of Lewis' writing offensive; but if you are an engineer, I'm sure you would be energized by the story.
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Summary: Some kind of Internet Era "Predators Ball"
Review: In my opinion "The new new thing" follows the pattern of the book "Predators Ball" (Connie Brooks), but inspired on Jim Clark's career instead of Mike Milken and his "junk" bond's story. Anyway, I enjoied reading this book.
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Summary: Lewis' style works, but the boat is tiring
Review: Good writing & definitely worth the read (and it is a quick read), but there's far too much focus on Hyperion, Clark's boat. I see Lewis' point here - the boat is such a glaring example of the outrageous and extreme aspects of Clark's personality that it's hard to ignore. But there are just too many pages dedicated to the subject. The passages on the Altantic crossing are especially numbing. I was tempted to just skip the whole thing. It is interesting to see what time has already done to this story...by focusing on Healtheon, Lewis has really chosen the weak sister of Clark's three billion-dollar babies. Indeed, the Healtheon / WebMD story looks shakier by the day. Furthermore, Lewis makes the case that Netscape went public without profits simply because Clark wanted to build his boat. If so, he started a tsunami of no-hope companies down the same road, leading to the dramatic April 2000 market correction.
Rating: 
Summary: Weak insight into Silicon Valley....
Review: I enjoyed Lewis' book "Liar's Poker" far more than this one. I grew tired of reading about how selfish, self-absorbed and narcissistic Jim Clark is and wanted to read more about the real stories behind the companies Clark created. The "Hyperion" boat plot became something I skimmed through. I think that Lewis would have had a better book if he focused on multiple companies and people. This entire book could be cut down into a chapter around Clark and his antics. I would have liked to have seen other chapters on Cisco, Kleiner-Perkins, Hotmail, Larry Ellison, Bill Gates etc.
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Summary: arrogant
Review: I bought this book hoping for am anecdotal history of the internet revolution. Shame on me! This is an arrogant and degrading portrait of several of the key players, focusing on Jim Clark, founder of Silicon Graphics, Netscape, and Heatheon. It mainly focuses on his revenge-motive, his obsession with his boat <yawn!>, "Hyperion," the greed of the players, and interpersonal politics... little in here about the technologies, and their impact on business and the economy.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating Look At a Silicone Valley Pioneer
Review: Michael Lewis writes a great yarn; his books all share the same fast paced, easy reading style that make for a quick read. Of course, with the recent free-fall in Internet IPO values, Jim Clark's near invention of the concept of an IPO of a company with no profits, few revenues and scant history looks to have had a pretty short short life. Still, as with any mania, a lot of people (including Mr. Clark) made millions while it lasted . . . and Michael Lewis has written a wonderful tale about that time.
Rating:
Summary: The panic pursuit of happiness
Review: It is an astounding tale on many levels. First- how could anybody read this book and not come away thinking that Jim Clark is a complete fool? This man let an ego-book about his life be written which gives him the attention span of a toddler. Then the author has the gall to tells us that Jim likes it so much that he/we will all be invited along for the next episode. Now we are expected to believe that this man is a "True Hero Of The Internet Economy"- all because he wanted many millions to build a bigger yacht. As one who has been in the software business as well as an offshore sailor, I find every chapter to be filled with the most incredulous disregard for Planning Ahead. Jim Clark has had more good luck in one week than most us will have in a lifetime. I found the descriptions of many events to be light on facts, so don't go looking for many details here. It is a very light read- on par with the attention span of it's subject.
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