Eyeball Wars : a novel of dot-com intrigue (Hardcover)

by David Meerman Scott (Author) "Richard Williams untangled himself from the long athletic legs of his sometimes girlfriend and propped himself up on the well-exercised silk sheets..." (more)
Key Phrases: eyeball wars, primary girlfriend, page girl, Williams Media Group, New York, Williams Online (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
An internecine battle for readership ("eyeballs") between an online Internet startup and its parent company, an established media giant, is the subject of Scott's fast-paced if poorly articulated first novel. Rich young playboy Richard Williams is cut off by his father, Pierce, a ruthless media tycoon who insists that his son begin to earn a living. Richard is put in charge of the new Internet division of his father's company, but dad also hobbles his heir by establishing a strict budget and hiring Jason Carpenter, a back-stabbing Internet hotshot, to compete with him. At first Richard flounders, but eventually he begins to figure out how to run the company. He decides to reinvent the site using a tabloid format, and his concept becomes an instant hit. The financial effort to establish the site proves a bigger hurdle, until Richard is aided by a mysterious venture capitalist and later by Mariko Suzuki, a young Japanese woman whose company is looking to invest in an American Internet startup. As the narrative progresses, the novelty of the Internet angle fades, and the book turns into a feel-good business success story with a romantic subplot involving Richard and Mariko. Scott injects some brio when he skewers the greed and fast-track lifestyles of the rich and famous, and he has an insider's perspective on the way deals get done in the dot-com world. His message that PR, spin and get-rich-quick schemes will be the ultimate legacy of the Internet is a cautionary tale indeed, but in all, this book, laden with brand names and hip locales, is for readers more comfortable with online lingo than graceful prose. (Jan.) Forecast: Despite its flaws, this title, with its catchy, pixillated cover, has potential to take off among the dot.com legions. The publisher's marketing plans seem well-aimed at the Net crowd, and include author appearances at Internet trade shows, direct mail to Internet professionals, and use in corporate gift packages (Freshspot claims that Internet companies have preordered hundreds of copies).
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"...fast, hip, self-reverential and amusingly serendipitous, a perfectly quirky novel of a perfectly quirky industry..." -- Jay MacDonald, Fort Myers News-Press

"A terrific debut...his characterizations are spot-on and his writing style splits the difference between, say, Martin Amis and Jay McInerny." -- BookPage, April 2001

"Eyeball Wars has the cachet of both what's next and what's been around because it's good." -- Miss Pym, Mystery International, March 2001

"Great fun and full of insights. Scott's characters are impossible to forget." -- Chris MacPhail, CEO, Wired Markets, Inc.

"I was ‘wired’ to this book—the backdrop is the Internet; the story is pure people—greed, politics, and survival." -- Greg Chagaris, CEO, Outsell, Inc. and publisher of "Information About Information"

"If you want to know what it’s really like to establish and run a dot-com, read Eyeball Wars. -- Michael Fix, Chairman and CEO, Industry to Industry

“[Eyeball Wars] has everything, money, risk, sex, international wheeling and dealing. It's a goody!” -- Bookviews

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 351 pages
• Publisher: Freshspot Publishing (January 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0970141483
• ISBN-13: 978-0970141484
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #90,327 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Eye Ball Wars A Fast, Fun, Spirited Book!, October 18, 2000

By A Customer

What a sassy little book this is! David Scott, in his first book, takes us into a world of Internet start-ups, media giants, and high finance. The characters are likeable, and the villians are of the kind that you love to hate. He has an excellent sense of place and time, with situations that ring true. As a library worker, I would definately recommend this for the cold, stay by the fire, weekends that are ahead.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So many angles; so much fun, October 17, 2000

By A Customer

Yes! Yes ! Yes! "Eyeball Wars" is refreshing fun and insightful. If you ever wondered what lies beneath the buzz of the internet economy, read this book.

The world seems like a small neighborhood as the charachters find themselves in Japan, the US, Europe and Australia. I don't know what I liked best, the lives of the well developed characters, the accuracy with which work was portrayed in different countries or the way companies are trying to make sense of the new economy. There are many hilarious moments as people, family members, companies and countries fight their own wars.

It is all there in a delightful novel with the human drama, intrigue and a great pace.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book That Captures the Insanity of the New Media Boom, February 21, 2001

By	Norman M. Valz (Philadelphia, PA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

David M. Scott was able to capture the fast-paced giddiness of the New Media/Internet boom. This book is one that I couldn't put down. I have worked with new media and internet related companies for about five years, and I haven't read any literature that so completely captured the mindset and atmosphere of that now historic era as was sucessfully done in this book. I highly recommend this as a great read.