Reviews

Gr 6 Up-This workmanlike biography paints a well-balanced picture of the youthful multibillionaire whose inventions made possible the rapid spread of the personal computer. Beginning with accounts of Gates's early precocity, Boyd seamlessly describes the young man's high-flying academic career and the pressures that caused him to drop out of Harvard to concentrate on business. To his credit, he describes Gates's abrasive personality and his unsparing treatment of colleagues and employees. He also does a good job of analyzing issues the man faced (e.g., programmers' financial control of software). The writing style effectively portrays the subject's high energy level through occasional telegraphic sentence fragments and frequent use of computer jargon, most of which is well explained. Black-and-white photos are scattered throughout. Ralph Zickgraf's William H. Gates (GEC, 1992) is much shorter and written in a breathless, enthusiastic style. The illustrations in that book are much more useful, and its organization better captures readers' interest, but the text is far behind current developments. There should be room in most collections for both titles.-Jonathan Betz-Zall, Sno-Isle Regional Library System, Edmonds, WA

""The writing style effectively portrays the subject's high energy level."