Lewis Steers a 'New New' Course

Though writer Michael Lewis '82 worked at a high-profile investment bank after graduating from the University, he did not spend his college days preparing for 60-hour work weeks and dinners at the office.

Instead, as an art history major, Lewis examined the works of famous artists and wrote his senior thesis on Donatello's use of antique and classical sources.

And despite a prominent writing career that includes two books — "Liar's Poker" and "The New New Thing" — Lewis admits that he occasionally thinks about his thesis.

"I still have dreams about it," Lewis said. "The dream is that it's March or April and someone asks how far you have to go on your thesis — and you didn't know you had to write a thesis."

Lewis did hand in his thesis on time — and in the process converted a professor who once doubted his intellectual tenacity into a lifelong admirer.

William Childs, Lewis' thesis adviser in the art and archaeology department, might have had a hard time envisioning his student as a world-renowned writer — or a world-renowned anything — before reading his thesis.

"Do you want me to tell you the truth?" Childs said when asked about Lewis' academic performance at Princeton.

But, Childs added, Lewis' thesis was different.

"He was a remarkably mediocre student. But he wrote the most brilliant senior thesis," Childs said. "It went beyond any scholarly conclusion that had been made. It turned [Lewis] into a first-rate mind."

Childs explained that Lewis' research — not his prose — made the thesis so impressive. "He had a furious interest in getting it right," Childs recalled. "It was remarkable. For a senior thesis to stand out in my mind for so long and so clearly — that's remarkable in itself."

Lewis said he chose art history because he was put off by what he perceived as Princetonians' money-driven motivations for majoring in economics. "Your major should be something you're interested in," he said in his characteristically direct manner. "You should take this brief moment to follow intellectual passions. It's a huge waste when people use [Princeton] as a professional school, when people study economics even though they aren't interested in it just because they think it will get them a job."

"Worldly ambition undermines intellectual curiosity although it's less true there than other places," Lewis added.

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Immediately after graduation, Lewis worked briefly for an art dealership in New York before moving to England to attend the prestigious London School of Economics. "I had an interest in economics, but it was killed in me at Princeton," he said. "After the London school, I was a loose filing. Wall Street was a magnet."

"It was the obvious place to go if you didn't know what to do. I had no idea what went on there," he continued, adding that though Wall Street is shrouded in mystery it is actually "very simple and dull."

"You're not supposed to know about it," he explained. "There's something weird about a college student who knows about Wall Street. It's kind of kinky."

For Lewis, his job at Salomon Brothers was exciting at first, but eventually became tedious. "The work became work," he said.

The day Lewis realized he no longer enjoyed Wall Street, he left and began writing "Liar's Poker."

"I'd had a writing career on the side. I'd published magazine pieces," he said. "So I became a freelance writer."

Looking back, Lewis marvels that he had no fear of making such an extreme career switch. "Nothing is scary when you're 27 years old. You think, 'Oh this is going to work, so who cares?' " he remembered.

At the same time, Lewis did recognize what he was walking away from. "The only thought I had was, 'You just walked away from the chance to have a lot of money.' At the time I said, 'I don't care if I'm rich.' It turned out to be a hypocritical statement. At Salomon Brothers, it just seemed so easy to make money," he said. "Making money as a writer was much harder."

Flash forward to 1998. Thanks to "Liar's Poker," Lewis has been launched into the public eye as America's definitive chronicler of Wall Street culture. Now he is tackling his latest project on board the Hyperion — the world's first completely computer-operated, single-mast yacht.

And the engine has just stopped.

Lewis, along with a crew of sailors and computer programmers, sits helpless while the engineers try to determine why the engine is continually shutting off, why the lights are not working, why the computer-operated kitchen table is constantly rising into the ceiling and why the sensors are inaccurate.

In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, Jim Clark — the founder of Netscape — is conducting an experiment. Lewis has embarked on an expedition to observe Clark, who, in Lewis' mind, personifies Silicon Valley's new technological, entrepreneurial spirit.

Lewis' new book, appropriately titled "The New New Thing," follows Clark on his way to creating his third billion-dollar company — and Lewis is along for the ride. Against this odd backdrop, Lewis uses his trademark narrative voice and wry wit to take his readers on a journey through the uncharted jungle of nerds and billionaires, where millions are made daily in the search for the new new thing.

Standing in the middle of this drama is Clark, a man most animated when attempting to fly a helicopter without any training or when building the Hyperion and trying to sail it by computer.

For almost three years, Lewis lived and breathed Clark, experiencing the life of a Silicon Valley billionaire.

Spending time with Clark, Lewis recalled, is "a lot of fun, but he can be unpredictable and volatile. It's fun like hiking up a volcano. You see smoke and think it could blow, which makes it more exciting . . . But then when it does blow, it's not fun anymore."

In Silicon Valley, Lewis noticed a trend that was similar to what he had observed on Wall Street 10 years earlier. Like Wall Street in the 1980s, Silicon Valley is today the "center of the economic universe," Lewis said.

Writing about the California computer mecca "was sort of a no-brainer," he explained. "That place has a center-of-the-world feel comparable to the version I lived through in Wall Street."

After completing "The New New Thing," Lewis moved to Paris with his wife Tabitha Soren and their infant daughter Quinn. The decision to move was the result of a desire to solidify control of his life, Lewis said. "I'd seen enough friends that when they have their first child, their lives shrink dramatically. So we said, 'Let's go somewhere where shrunken can still be expanding.' "

"Tabitha and I were actually traveling," he continued. "On a plane, she pulls out a map of the world, and we narrowed our choices to Paris or Barcelona. A friend had a house to rent in Paris. It was somewhat arbitrary."

For Lewis, the move worked out well because his two employers — The New York Times Magazine and Microsoft Network's slate.com — were both interested in publishing foreign correspondence from France. Lewis' column for slate.com — "I See France" — allows him to chronicle the details of his family's daily life in Paris. The humorous columns are, according to Lewis, meant to be "self-consciously narrow and small."

Lewis also contributes to The New York Times Magazine and is now working on a series about Europe for the magazine.

Living in Europe has also given Lewis time to work on a screenplay for 20th Century Fox. Lewis was hesitant to reveal the details of the plot and would say only that the story is about a young man who goes from Wall Street to Silicon Valley to work for his hero. Once he arrives in California, he discovers his hero has committed suicide.

Lewis frequently returns to the United States. "It's an excuse to come to a library," he said. "I'm working on a new project, call it 'Project X.' It's in the early stages where I'm not sure if I have a book. I think I will."

Though Lewis did not actively pursue a writing career until he left Wall Street, he believed early on that the world of writing was where he belonged. "I never wrote for the 'Prince,' but I did formulate my desire to be a writer in college," he explained. "Freshman year I remember thinking, 'I want this type of intellectual outlet forever.' I wanted the life of [professor] John McPhee ['53]. However, the desire to be a writer preceded the writing."

Like McPhee, Lewis tried his hand at teaching. He taught one semester at the University of California-Berkeley. "I love Berkeley, but I wasn't born to teach journalism," he said. "I thought it was a little bit fruitless. I don't think journalism is something you can teach. It's a disease in America — they think everything can be learned in school."

Lewis has yet to win a Pulitzer Prize like McPhee. Maybe Project X will be the one. Or perhaps he will receive an Oscar for the screenplay he is working on. For Lewis the "new new thing" is whatever catches his sharp eye and becomes subject to his ironic commentary.

"I'm good at just seeing what's in front of me," Lewis said. Just like on the Hyperion, in front of Lewis is an ocean of possibility. And this time he's controlling the boat.