“A perfectly executed, exquisitely reported parable of the Internet age and the wild, mad adventure that is start-up culture.”—Charles Duhigg Fortune, mania, genius, philanthropy—the bestselling author of Mountains Beyond Mountains gives us the inspiring story of Paul English, the founder of Kayak.com and Lola. Tracy Kidder, the “master of the nonfiction narrative” (The Baltimore Sun) and author … narrative” (The Baltimore Sun) and author of the bestselling classic The Soul of a New Machine, now tells the story of Paul English, a kinetic and unconventional inventor and entrepreneur, who as a boy rebelled against authority. Growing up in working-class Boston, English discovers a medium for his talents the first time he sees a computer. As a young man, despite suffering from what would eventually be diagnosed as bipolar disorder, he begins his pilgrim’s journey through the ups and downs in the brave new world of computers. Relating to the Internet as if it’s an extension of his own mind, he discovers that he has a talent for conceiving innovative enterprises and building teams that can develop them, becoming “a Pied Piper” of geeks. His innovative management style, success, and innate sense of fair play inspire intense loyalty. Early on, one colleague observes: “Someday this boy’s going to get hit by a truck full of money, and I’m going to be standing beside him.” Yet when English does indeed make a fortune, when the travel website Kayak is sold for almost two billion dollars—the first thing he thinks about is how to give the money away: “What else would you do with it?” The second thing he thinks is, What’s next?
With the power of a consummate storyteller, Tracy Kidder casts a fresh, critical, and often humorous eye on the way new ideas and new money are reshaping our culture and the world. A Truck Full of Money is a mesmerizing portrait of an irresistibly endearing man who is indefatigable, original, and as unpredictable as America itself.
Praise for A Truck Full of Money
“Kidder’s prose glides with a figure skater’s ease, but without the glam. His is a seemingly artless art, like John McPhee’s, that conceals itself in sentences that are necessary, economical, and unpretentious.”—The Boston Globe
“Kidder’s portrayal of living with manic depression is as nuanced and intimate as a reader might ever expect to get. . . . You can’t help admiring Mr. English and cheering for him.”—The New York Times
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This is a hard book to rate since for a specific audience it is a 5 star off the charts, while for a more general public its a solid read but not much more. The book doesn’t deal specifically with any one theme but it touches with great sensibility a whole lot of them: entrepreneurship, financial success, “impostor syndrome,” mental health, rags to reaches, philanthropy, start-ups, etc.
The can’t miss it audience for the book is entrepreneurs who have dealt with the high pressure environment of creating a company while also dealing with mental health issues. It is common for entrepreneurs to complain about feeling depressed or very stressed about their company but it is a whole other world to be actually suffering from depression or a specific mental health problem. In this case the story is that of Paul English, a very successful entrepreneur who’s twice scored multi-million dollar exits while also dealing with bipolar disorder. The author does an amazing job showing all dimensions of Paul which is extremely refreshing in a world that tends to deify any successful entrepreneur while minimizing their humanity.
The book also tells the story of Paul’s career culminating on his sale of the very successful Kayak site for almost $2 billion dollars. Success brings with it its own problems such as the “guilt” some very successful people feel about what they have accomplished and the questioning that comes from asking how much they deserve it.
For me the greatest lesson is something I’ve been thinking quite a lot which the effect that coming into riches can have on a person. My position is that money doesn’t change people, it reveals who they are and in many cases amplifies their character. In the case of Paul, throughout his career he always appeared as a humble, caring and thoughtful person. His financial success simply enabled him to do more of what he always did free of financial constraints.
Very disappointed – and ending leaves you hanging. Would noy recommend
In general I enjoy Kidder’s take on things; this book included.
So what’s the message?
Paul English just isn’t that interesting or impressive. Sure, he built a multi-billion-dollar business and made a lot of money, but so have many others, and beyond that there’s nothing particularly remarkable about him–yea, he has done some philanthropy, but nothing out of this world. Very disappointing given that Tracy Kidder has written some phenomenal books.
This shed a lot of light on the information technology “start-up” of a few years ago. And, it helped shed a lot of light on the bi-polar mental condition. Fascinating!
I love the way Tracy Kiddrr writes about people and technology.
Not all that exciting. But it was informative.
A fascinating account of entrepreneur Paul English’s life and the evolution of computer technology. Tracey Kidder is a marvel writing and unfolding a multitude of disparate subjects.
“A Truck Full of Money” is the latest Tracy Kidder book. Like “Mountains Beyond Mountains” , “Strength In What Remains” and “The Soul of a New Machine”, this is a somewhat different sort of biography. The story is about Paul English, a very successful software entrepreneur, his friends, and the software industry of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. It seems intended as a sequel to his first major work, “The Soul of a New Machine” which told the story of a group of Data General engineers working on a new mini-computer.
I did not find the story as engaging as “Soul”, “Mountains” or “Strength”. Perhaps it is because Paul English does not come across as powerfully or as heroically as the main characters in Kidder’s previous books. Or perhaps for me, the story of Mr English’s success in creating and selling Kayak.com is not as interesting as the stories in the other books. Or perhaps because of my familiarity with professional software development I was more critical of the details of Mr English’s story. Or perhaps I was put off by the treatment of Mr English’s bipolar disorder (a friend of mine who suffered bipolar swings committed suicide). Or all of the above.
In any case, “A Truck Full of Money” does not strike me as one of Mr Kidder’s stronger works, but it is still a readable, interesting story.