A Truck Full of Money

June 13, 2016
In this fascinating biography, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Kidder (Mountains Beyond Mountains) chronicles the life and complex personality of Paul English, founder of the travel website Kayak. As Kidder recounts, English grew up as one of seven children in a blue-collar Boston family, evincing a mind for computers at the dawn of the digital age. Kidder traces his journey, beginning with his years as a 12-year-old hacker and continuing through a series of professional endeavors, most notably the sale of his first company for $33 million and the founding of Kayak. The story also follows English and team as they work on his latest vision, providing insight into the functioning of venture capital firms and how projects can morph in unexpected ways. Though Kidder is obviously fond of his subject, he also frankly discusses English’s flaws, such as “distractibility” heightened by bipolar disorder, problems with authority, and a general refusal to follow rules. Through English’s story, Kidder poses the question, “Does programming attract strange people, or does it make them strange?” Though English is perhaps not a traditionally inspirational figure, his life story certainly holds lessons for burgeoning entrepreneurs: he’s a philanthropist and master of innovation, and also comes off as remarkably immune to feelings of failure or regret. This is a biography not just of one man, but of an era and of the startup subculture.

The Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner tells the story of a maverick software engineer and entrepreneur's remarkable life.The digital revolution was in its infancy when Paul English's talent for computers revealed itself in the mid-1970s. With only rudimentary computer training, the teenage English created programs that let him alter his computer teacher's attendance files. However, writes Kidder (Strength in What Remains, 2009, etc.) in this brief but well-told biography, he was an unmotivated student who got into fights and graduated high school near the bottom of his class. Exceptional SAT scores earned him a tuition-free education at the University of Massachusetts, which English only decided to attend because "the school had a student jazz band." His attitude changed after he discovered the UMass computer science department. What he learned there, as well as in the programming jobs he had outside the university, gave him insight into the emergent "society of programmers," which included individuals who were as introverted, eccentric, and awkward as English. After earning his master's degree, English worked briefly as a coder before moving into management at Interleaf, a company that created software products for technical publishing. During this early period in his career, he discovered that he also had a flair for entrepreneurship. At the same time, he learned that the energy that drove him to extended bouts of manic coding came from bipolar disorder. After he left Interleaf in the mid-1990s, English co-founded a high-tech firm, Boston Light, in 1998, which he then sold for a profit the next year. His greatest financial coup came a decade later, when his travel site, Kayak, sold for $1.8 billion. Yet English ultimately found that his greatest fulfillment came not from his work as an engineer and entrepreneur but from using his fortune to help the homeless in Boston and underprivileged in Haiti. While eminently readable as a biography, Kidder's book is also a trenchant study of the new American economy and the technological world that built it. More engrossing work from a gifted practitioner of narrative nonfiction. COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

August 1, 2016
For his Pulitzer Prizewinner, The Soul of a New Machine (1981), best-selling nonfiction writer Kidder (Mountains beyond Mountains, 2013) eavesdropped on a team of programmers and computer engineers developing a then cutting-edge minicomputer for the Data General Corporation. Now, 35 years later, Kidder returns to the domain of computer nerds with this profile of Internet entrepreneur Paul English, cofounder of the travel website, Kayak.com. In tracing English's roots from working-class Boston to selling his first start-up company for a cool $33-million, Kidder shows how the brilliant software engineer has succeeded with a rare combination of disdain for authority and the ability to nurture fierce loyalty in his employees, becoming a Pied Piper of geeks. Perhaps English's most surprising idiosyncrasy, however, is his unabashed philanthropy, as embodied in his Summits Education program investing in teachers and a remarkable website devoted to personalized customer serviceall accomplished while suffering from bipolar disorder. Once again, Kidder hits the mark, painting a riveting portrait of an endearing society outlier and highlighting the rapidly changing trends in today's computer-driven marketplace.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

October 1, 2016

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Kidder's (Mountains Beyond Mountains; The Soul of a New Machine) biography of Paul English, entrepreneur and founder of Kayak.com, starts with the sale of Kayak to Priceline in 2013. The narrative then moves back and forth in time to show how English was influenced by his childhood, education, and work experiences that led him to that point. Woven throughout are his attempts to "recover" from success by giving his wealth away, as well as struggles in his personal life. The book is divided into five parts and covers English's years as a programmer and manager, the founding and sale of Kayak.com, the experiment of the business incubator Blade, and his latest endeavor Lola, a travel service. VERDICT Kidder has an authentic approach that is inspiring yet doesn't pull any punches. This volume will appeal to fans of biography, technology, and business, as well as lovers of exceptional storytelling. [See Prepub Alert, 3/28/16.]--Elizabeth Nelson, McHenry Cty. Coll. Lib., Crystal Lake, IL

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2016

In 2004, Paul English cofounded the global tech company Kayak, then stepped down as CTO in 2014 to become CEO of Blade, a venture-creation company. Kidder, whose honors include a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award, tells English's story while pondering how new technologies, new money, and ubiquitous start-ups are redirecting our culture.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.