Author and speaker John Wukovits, who has written war novels like Tarawa and The London Blitz, and several military biographies, has compiled information on and about Gates in Bill Gates: Software King.[break]
What’s your opinion on reading non-fiction from your experiences?
I’m not a fan of non-fiction. I’ve read a few other biographies of personalities like Larry Ellison which I didn’t find exciting at all but I chose this particular book for inspiration. I wanted to get tips on how to establish myself in the IT field since I come from the same background. I’m an avid fiction reader otherwise and still prefer fiction to non-fiction. I found this one quite interesting, though.
Is there anything you didn’t like about it?
Wukovits has compiled information on Bill Gates and put it together in a timeline. What I like about the book is how he has managed to compile information from various sources and presented it neatly. He hasn’t included a first-person narrative from Gates himself though, and that’s a drawback, I guess. What I learnt from his life is how to manage my time but it also made me realize that one can get really busy in this profession and there may come a time when you’ll be cut off from your family and friends for at least some time.
What’s the thing that you find really interesting about Gates’ life, one thing that you learnt from this book?
Gates was adopted, and the fact that he still hasn’t tried to find out about his biological parents is what I found odd. I would be really curious. Another thing is, Gates used to fake his grades in order to fit in since primary school. He was really good but in order to adapt socially he would try and get low grades. His wife calls him “socially awkward.” Also, he was really young when he founded his first company Micro-soft with a friend from high school who died soon after. Gates used to have his employees go to business meetings because he was really young and felt people might not take him seriously and his age would hamper their judgment of his intellect.
How long did it take for you to finish the book?
It’s a small book and since I have a habit of reading bulky ones, it didn’t take much time. I finished it in a few hours.
Related story
Bill Gates announces plan to give ‘virtually all’ his money awa...
