The Leap: A Memoir Of Love And Madness In The Internet Gold Rush

By Maryanne Murray Buechner

It would be easy to dismiss The Leap as just another self-satisfied saga of risking it all on a dotcom dream. Don't. Ashbrook's tale of how he went from disillusioned newspaperman to co-founder of the home-design empire HomePortfolio.com serves up heavy doses of self-examination and occasional melodrama ("Maybe we don't get to choose our madness"). But it is saved by self-deprecating humor and gut-wrenching suspense (Will the money run out? Will his wife?). By the end, you're praying for this guy to make it.

--By Maryanne Murray Buechner