Dorm Hackers

In america's Silicon valley celluloid fantasy can sometimes become a reality. For two Harvard undergraduates, Mark Zuckerburg and Eduardo Saverin, who created Facebook, the social networking site's early success propelled them into a world of cool nightclubs and hot dates. But the site also landed them in a legal battle that soured their relationship.

Ben Mezrich's book on Facebook's founders is replete with little-known details. Spurned by a fellow Harvard undergraduate in 2003, Mark Zuckerburg retailiated by hacking into the university's online dormitory to download female student's photos and create a website where male students can rank them by appearance. University officials shut down the site and disciplined Zuckerburg for his prank, but the idea for facebook had been born. In 2004, Zuckerbrug with his friend Saverin launched Facebook's prototype for Harvard students. As its popularity increased , the website opened to additional colleges , high schools, and , in 2006 to everyone over 13. THE ACCIDENTAL BILLIONAIRES tracks this evolution of Facebook. 

The book is at its best while describing the fraternity ho-use atmosphere in the site's early days. At one point, to hold a competition to recruit new programmers, Zuckerburg decides the candidates must not just hack through line after line of computer code but also drink shot after shot of whiskey.