The Prince of Silicon Valley: Frank Quattrone and the Dot-Com Bubble

There is probably no single figure better suited to embody both the successes and excesses of the late 1990s tech bubble than Credit Suisse First Boston technology banking leader Frank Quattrone. The man behind some of the hottest technology IPOs of the decade, Quattrone's rise from South Philly street tough to the highest echelons of the banking industry, and the questionable practices that took him there and ultimately landed him in court for obstruction of justice, is the stuff of modern-day myth. Unfortunately, in the hands of Wall Street Journal reporter Smith, Quattrone's story is buried under a thicket of detail and minutiae without a clear line of analysis to help lay readers understand exactly what went wrong (for example, the author details instances where stock analysts were pressured to give positive coverage of companies doing business with Quattrone's group, without explaining what an analyst does or how their work affects the stock market). While an important and frequently compelling account, the book conveys little about the central personalities and reads very much like the court transcripts upon which it is based. (Jan.)