by Ben Mezrich
First published 2009
Mark Zuckerberg sits in his Harvard dorm room, frustrated by his social failures and determined to make an impact. The computer genius hacks into university servers to create a rating system for female students, nearly getting expelled but stumbling onto the concept that will become Facebook. His best friend Eduardo Saverin, equally awkward but ambitious for acceptance into Harvard's elite Final Clubs, joins the venture. Together they launch what starts as a campus networking site. Success brings venture capitalists, legal battles, and conflicts neither anticipated. Eduardo wants traditional business growth while Mark envisions something bigger. Their friendship fractures as lawyers and money enter the picture. The two Harvard outsiders who dreamed of social acceptance find themselves at war over the company that promised to connect everyone. Facebook transforms how millions communicate, but its creation destroys the bond between its founders.
Genres: drama, business, contemporary, non-fiction, 21st-century, academic
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, friendship-drama
Setting: Harvard
Period: 21st-century
255 pages · Hardcover · Doubleday