Part memoir, part manifesto, Michael Gibson’s debut book, “Paper Belt on Fire”, is an absolute must-read.
A title as punchy and forthright as “Paper Belt on Fire” sets a high bar, but make no mistake: Gibson clears it with ease and then some. Like the work of a good magician, "Paper Belt on Fire" is so readable you might miss the tells of Gibson’s skill: his ability to advance an argument persuasively but not forcefully, to lure you into his Weltanschauung without your even noticing it, to carefully weave in his quest to uncover the secrets surrounding the mysterious death of his biological father, as well as to present his own autobiographical details and narrative arc without it at all coming across as a dull recitation of facts. Together, this skillset, combined with Gibson's wit, charisma, and occasional artistic sweeps toward Kerouac, the philosophy of stoicism, and lessons of Thucydides, as well as his own highly singular life experiences, make the experience of reading "Paper Belt on Fire" an up-close-and-personal view of his narrative, as he brings the reader alongside him, shoulder-to-shoulder as he crisscrosses the country on nothing but a shoestring and the biggest hope of all -- the discovery of talent that will change the world. A writer who can pull off any one of these is decent, but a writer who can do all of them, and in the same book too, is a master. You’re unlikely to find another book out there on Amazon that encompasses all of the same ground as "Paper Belt on Fire" and Gibson may be the first explorer in a new style of a fresh, modern, Neo-Gonzo-esque non-fiction.
"Paper Belt on Fire" is, first and foremost, Gibson’s memoir, largely focused on telling the story of his work with the Thiel Fellowship, the infamous stipend-for-dropouts fund started by the entrepreneur-investor Peter Thiel, and then Gibson's own spin-off in that same vein in starting his own 1517 Fund. Thiel himself appears here and there as a sort of figure in the background occasionally offering Gibson – and by extension the reader – wise words of advice, but the reader’s main task is to follow Gibson as a kind of Bilbo Baggins off on many different adventures meeting all kinds of people as well as joining him on occasional forays sneaking off into Gibson's most intensely personal project. It's a whirlwind -- the best kind. Gibson's certainly no wallflower, making him an entertaining companion throughout his own narrative. As he relays in the book, Gibson is the kind of person who would not only ask a college to invest in an anti-college fund, but seek to persuade them to do so while also ripping apart their business model. If that isn’t the American way, then I don’t know what is.
"Paper Belt on Fire" is an adroitly woven story with never a dull moment. But, most importantly, it really speaks to charisma of Gibson himself, as a writer, an investor, and an individual. To me, it seems no wonder that Thiel and Gibson would have had such a natural friendship and productive working relationship. Thiel's penchant for discovering secrets is well-known and thoroughly discussed in his own book "Zero to One", while Gibson's own childhood and upbringing is haunted by a knot of secrets that he is trying to unravel throughout the telling of "Paper Belt on Fire". What's more is the telling connection between Gibson's secret -- a hunt for one single key piece of paper that will uncover the truth of his father's death -- juxtaposed against his own book called "Paper Belt on Fire" and his manifesto to end the systems of "paper" that act as a form of "neo-indulgences" by which entree in society is determined. By the end of the book, although it's not directly stated, one senses that Gibson perhaps realized that no paper was ever really needed, and that Gibson's own life has been the good fruit of his father. We'll learn that his father may have worked in the realm of governments and political change, but Gibson's work with the Thiel Fellowship and with 1517 Fund, as described in "Paper Belt on Fire", stands on the shoulders of his father as he works in the higher realms of innovation, technology, and indelibly changing the world. In many ways, Gibson seems his biological father's natural successor, and his book seems a fitting answer to his own personal quest, where actions in our lives lived mean far more than any scrap of paper can tell us.
"Paper Belt on Fire" is a page-turner must-read, just for its author alone and his skill. But be warned: you might find yourself inspired by Gibson’s anarcho-chic charm, and after spending so much up-close-and-personal time with such a compelling and charismatic writer, you might also find yourself staring down at all the old, sclerotic institutions that obstruct human progress and the birth of the future, maybe even a little itchy with the matches.
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Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 15, 2023
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 15, 2023
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 29, 2022
I've had a front-row seat watching many of the stories in this book unfold (disclosure that I've had the pleasure to work at 1517 for the last few years) and Michael's style not only captures the absurdity and reality of so many of these situations so well, it captures it in a way that makes you want to keep reading every page even though you know exactly what comes next.
I was trying to put my finger on Michael's style recently. His narrative nonfiction always grabs the attention in a way that so few are able to successfully do. And he's able to craft such an interesting story with details that others would otherwise ignore or gloss over.
Then it hit me: it's Tom Wolfe.
This book reads just like the narrative nonfiction style of greats such as From Bauhaus to Our House or The Right Stuff. Sure, The Right Stuff is ostensibly about going to space but it is really, actually about heroism and adventure and the men who have, well, the right stuff to take on that challenge.
In the same way, this book is about technology and credentialism and stagnation on the surface. Below that surface, there's a story about the people it takes to set the Paper Belt on fire and ignite a whole new generation of adventuring problem solvers, scientists, innovators, and founders. It's a journey to the edge of what is possible -- really, truly possible because it has been seen by Michael's own eyes -- and back.
Put down the exposes written by "experts" from the outside looking in and pick up this book if you want a real adventure from those lighting that Paper Belt on Fire.
A manifesto by the modern-day Tom Wolfe
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 29, 2022
The world needs another book about investing like it needs more mosquitos. Thankfully, Michael Gibson knows this and this is not simply a book about investing. While Paper Belt on Fire touches on techno-optimism, stagnation vs. progress, credentialism, seasteading and charter cities, Iron Man curing diabetes, self-driving cars, and quantum computing, it's so much more. This is an adventure.Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 29, 2022
I've had a front-row seat watching many of the stories in this book unfold (disclosure that I've had the pleasure to work at 1517 for the last few years) and Michael's style not only captures the absurdity and reality of so many of these situations so well, it captures it in a way that makes you want to keep reading every page even though you know exactly what comes next.
I was trying to put my finger on Michael's style recently. His narrative nonfiction always grabs the attention in a way that so few are able to successfully do. And he's able to craft such an interesting story with details that others would otherwise ignore or gloss over.
Then it hit me: it's Tom Wolfe.
This book reads just like the narrative nonfiction style of greats such as From Bauhaus to Our House or The Right Stuff. Sure, The Right Stuff is ostensibly about going to space but it is really, actually about heroism and adventure and the men who have, well, the right stuff to take on that challenge.
In the same way, this book is about technology and credentialism and stagnation on the surface. Below that surface, there's a story about the people it takes to set the Paper Belt on fire and ignite a whole new generation of adventuring problem solvers, scientists, innovators, and founders. It's a journey to the edge of what is possible -- really, truly possible because it has been seen by Michael's own eyes -- and back.
Put down the exposes written by "experts" from the outside looking in and pick up this book if you want a real adventure from those lighting that Paper Belt on Fire.
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Top reviews from other countries
Alex Palmer
It's not a book about business, it is a book about people.
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on January 24, 2023
Namik Abasov
Michael will take you through an exciting and thought-provoking adventure
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 5, 2022
