Zucker Love

So I just finished reading Accidental Billionaires and started The Facebook Effect. Both books deal with that great timesuck, Facebook.com. Now I don't spend much time on facebook (check in once every few weeks???), but I am fascinated by the narrative of its founding and its incredible growth. Both books address the founding of the company, Accidental Billionaires in depth, The Facebook Effect superficially and both books introduce us to Mark Zuckerberg. Thats about all they have in common. I have yet to read two books about the same subject that diverge in such a degree on what, where, why and how things happened. Accidental Billionaires (from now on AB) went into depth on the beginnings of the company in that eponymous college dorm room and the characters who helped M.Z. start the phenom that is facebook. The Facebook Effect (from now on TFE) introduced us to the people facebook would like to credit with its founding. That is the crux of what is wrong with TFE. While AB seems to produce a more well rounded view of the founding of facebook, TFE is all about the Zucker Love. For example, did you know that an early strategic treatise on the direction and future facebook offerings, written by M.Z., has the "weight" of Michelangelo's notebooks?  Neither did I until TFE told me so (I nearly packed it in right there as I rolled my eyes and laughed out loud at the absurdity of that statement. FYI - Mark Zuckerberg's handwriting is "beautiful", roll my eyes some more). While AB reads like the movie script that it turned into, TFE is 384 pages of public relations / Zucker Love dribble. I will be the first to deny any and all writing talents ascribed to me, but TFE reads like a high school essay (including high school like snide remarks) at times and insults its readers with overt explanations of obvious conclusions at others. Do we really need to know that Shawn Parkers girlfriend was kind enough to let him stay in an extra room while some construction debris was cleaned up. NO!

In conclusion, both books have their issues and biased views, but TBE goes overboard with its Zucker Love while AB is definitely anti Zucker Love. Both books deal with the founding story, but only TFE goes past that founding story and takes us up to 2010 (while keeping up the Zucker Lover throughout). So I'll leave it to you dear readers which book you like better, Zucker Love or Anti Zucker Love. I know which way I'm leaning.