The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley Story

The New New Thing is far more than the story of Jim Clark or the rise of specific companies. It is a portrait of a cultural and economic revolution powered by individuals who refused to accept established limits. Through Clark’s journey, Lewis reveals how Silicon Valley redefined capitalism, technology, and ambition by valuing risk over certainty, imagination over caution, and disruption over preservation.

The book illustrates both the transformative power and the destabilizing consequences of this worldview. The pursuit of revolutionary ideas generated extraordinary wealth, groundbreaking innovation, and technologies that reshaped society. Yet it also produced volatility, speculative mania, and cycles of boom and collapse.

Lewis shows that the real engine of the digital age is a mindset: the relentless pursuit of the next breakthrough, the refusal to settle, and the belief that the future belongs to those willing to leap into uncertainty. The “new new thing” is not a product—it is a philosophy.

Michael Lewis is a bestselling American author and journalist renowned for transforming complex subjects into accessible, character-driven narratives. A former bond trader, Lewis draws on his understanding of finance, business, and institutional systems to illuminate the human stories behind major economic and technological developments.

His acclaimed works include Liar’s Poker, Moneyball, The Big Short, and Flash Boys, many of which were adapted into award-winning films. Known for sharp insight, wit, and immersive investigative research, Lewis is widely regarded as one of the most influential nonfiction storytellers of the modern era.