The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook

The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook

Written By: Ben Mezrich

Read by: Mike Chamberlain

Background: The Accidental Billionaires is the book the now hit movie "The Social Network" is based on. Ben Mezrich, based this book on a series of interviews with former Facebook founder Eduardo Saverin, Mark Zuckerberg declined to be interviewed for the book. This produces a very one sided story that many people that were actually there when this all happened say is highly fictionalized. 
I haven't seen the movie yet, and after reading the book, I'm not really sure how they transitioned this to the screen? It just doesn't seem like the type of material that transitions to the screen very well. However the story that is told is interesting, and if Saverin is to be believed it certainly makes me think that anyone that works for Facebook should never cross paths with Zuckerberg. He really goes out of his way to make Mark look like an ego-centric jerk. But a withdrawn and un-selfassured/socially awkward ego-centric jerk. Which is an interesting combination.
Mark Zuckerberg came up with the idea for an online website "Facebook" that originally was just for Harvard students since he was in his second year at Harvard. The term "Facebook" was taken from Harvard's own student information Database. Within Facebook's first year though it had expanded to Colleges all over the country. 
Probably the most interesting thing in the book is that Zuckerberg started "The Facebook" really without the intention of starting a business or making money. He really just wanted to make something that was really cool. The idea that it could make a lot of money came from Sean Parker, one of the former founders of Napster. Parker is the reason Facebook is just called Facebook. Mark had always called it, "The Facebook". I think this was Parker's biggest contribution to Facebook, at least according to Saverin, who seemingly was Parker's nemesis. Like many others, once Parker had used up his usefulness he was let go as well.

The Review: In general this was an ok book. The reading by Mike Chamberlain was well executed. It did seem very choppy though. You could tell Mezrich was short on sources because he really had to stretch to come up with a story. It would be very interesting indeed to hear Mark's side of the story. Though since he is such a seemingly guarded person, I doubt that a biography about him will be forth coming. Not for a long while at least.

Rating: I give this a 3 out of 5


-B

Why We Get Fat: And what to do about it

Why We Get Fat: And what to do about it

Written By: Gary Taubes

Read By: Mike Chamberlain

Background: I recently watched a Documentary film on Hulu called "Fat Head". In it the filmmaker goes about trying to debunk alot of the claims that Morgan Spurlock made in his film "Super Size Me". Mainly that by eating at McDonalds 3 times a day, doesn't automatically make you fat and unhealthy. In the film , one of his main sources in explaining what makes us fat, he uses Gary Taubes first book "Good Calories, Bad Calories" which is a much more in depth and scientific book about what makes us fat. This book "Why We Get Fat", is aimed at the general public, and is shorter and more practical. And I liked it alot. 

First off, this is not a Diet book. Taubes doesn't give any recommended eating plans or recipes. He just explains in a very scientifically understandable way what really makes us humans prone to gaining weight. The answer, in short is, Carbohydrates. I wasn't completely surprised to learn this. After reading Michael Pollan's book "In Defense of Food", Pollan explains how the body almost instantly turns Carbs into Sugar upon entering your digestive system. I always wondered why people on Atkins lose so much weight and do it so fast. After reading "Why We Get Fat", now I know why. It's simply that some people's systems are more prone to producing more Insulin , and that slows down the metabolism which then tells the body to store fat instead of burning it for energy. That's the one sentence explanation. 


The more shocking parts of the book are when Taubes gives evidence for why working out and working out alot don't actually help people lose weight. According to Taubes , the only thing working out does is make you more hungry , which makes you eat more. Taubes posits that the old advice of "Calories in, Calories Out" just doesn't work or add up. So if you've ever started a work out program and NOT lost weight , there's your answer why. According to Taubes, the reason most people lose weight when working out is because working out tends to make people be more conscience of what and how much they are eating. In turn , they eat less, and by eating less, they eat less carbs and they lose weight. Makes sense right? 


Personally, I'm not sure about all of this. I've lost some weight over the last year , but it has stagnated for quite a few months. So, I'm going to give this a whirl and see if just by restricting or even lowering my carb intake will help me start burning fat again. 


The Review: When I first heard about this book I was instantly interested in it. For some reason I really get into Food Science books like this and Michael Pollan's. The book is laid out really well, and Taubes gives alot of interesting history on how Doctor's in the 20's and 30's treated Obesity. Overall I really enjoyed the book and found it very engaging and very listenable. Mike Chamberlain, the reader was good is his narration. He kept a steady pace, and never rushed through it. 


I recommend it.


Rating: 5 out of 5