Hackers
Steven Levy
Penguin
436 pages

Today, technology is cool. Owning the most powerful computer, the latest high-tech gadget, and the whizziest Web site is a status symbol on a par with having a flashy car or a designer suit. And a media obsessed with the digital explosion has reappropriated the term "computer nerd" so that it's practically synonymous with "entrepreneur". Yet, a mere fifteen years ago, wireheads hooked on tweaking endless lines of code were seen as marginal weirdos, outsiders whose world would never resonate with the mainstream.