How many times have you checked your Facebook today? This week?

Can you even put a number on the amount of times you have logged in only to find you have no new notifications because it’s the third, fourth or even fifth time you’ve logged in that day?

In the week it took me to read “The Accidental Billionaires – The Founding of Facebook: A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal” by Ben Mezrich, I estimated I logged into my Facebook account approximately 50 times.

Founders Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin never imagined that their “dorm-room creation” would ever get this far, according to the portrayal provided by Mezrich, a Harvard graduate who is also the author of “Bringing Down the House,” better known as the movie “21.”

Valued today at over $15 billion, far surpassing its annual income of $150 million, Facebook had small beginnings, much of which is public knowledge. In this new release and soon-to-be motion picture, though, Mezrich strives to reveal a different side of the story, one which Zuckerberg himself refused to comment on.

Facebook’s disputed co-founder, Eduardo Saverin, is the former best friend of Zuckerberg. “The Accidental Billionaires” traces the lives of Zuckerberg and Saverin from their minute beginnings to their scandalous ending, which involved Saverin suing Facebook and Zuckerberg after being ousted in 2008 in a lawsuit that is still raging today.

Although many of the lesser known details and people surrounding the start of Facebook were interesting, Mezrich’s informal and immature style of writing greatly detract from the wealth of information that he struggles to share. This results in a sometimes boring and slow moving plotline.

Nonetheless, this makes sense because this book seems to be a perfect fit for a movie, which releases Oct. 10. So if you’re looking for an entertaining and light book to read or movie to watch, this is a pick for you.

The fact that Mezrich is a Harvard graduate does add to his credibility, as the descriptions he provides of the Harvard campus throughout the book are from a real student’s eyes and perspective.
Hopefully it will provoke more appreciation for Facebook, as it took hard work and a couple of broken friendships along the way to get the site to where it is now.