Don't even read this book if you are not willing to laugh out loud in public places. This is not a book; it's a time machine into the world of startups, from tech industry beginnings through modern times and business. I’m a serial entrepreneur over 40, have started and run technology companies during the 80’s, 90’s through today. The author’s vignettes of products and people from those days are informative, accurate and hilariously funny at the same time. Opening this book is like a sprint through Silicon Valley through the eyes of a pair of failed entrepreneurs who stumble upon this one, completely implausible idea; selling Steve Jobs Liver, in slivers. The story is skillfully told, metering out the action and plot twists, with surprises throughout. The personalities are so carefully crafted that I felt like I knew them. In fact, the personalities were so... familiar, because I was one of them and had my own Boris as my Russian Chief Technology Officer. He was my only employee allowed to keep Vodka in his desk drawer.

Selling Steve Jobs' Liver is a cracked and wicked sendup up of the cult of the startup. The premise initially seems insane but the dead serious attitude of Nate Pennington and Ignacio Loehman and the book's breakneck pace animates the story and the whole idea takes on a weird plausbility as the tale sucks you in. By the end of the book, I'd begun wondering why someone hadn't created the "uLivv" already and the internet of departed things (just that phrase had me laughing). My favorite chapters were Meeting Miss Fancy, Persona, and Magic of Gruezen. Oh yes, The Last Pizza Party will also have you doubled up. Liver is not all startups and business. There is a very sweet romance between Boris and May interspersed between all the startup fever I really enjoyed.

Usually when I write reviews, I try to be as detailed as possible, examining the story with a critic’s eye. The author deserves it; the readers deserve it. But I have to be honest here – there really isn’t a whole lot I can write that the title doesn’t already convey. It is indeed a story about a group of tech entrepreneurs led by the, at times, unscrupulous Nate Pennington, who are trying to sell DNA samples of Steve Jobs’s liver as a marketing gimmick for the latest and greatest must-have tech device. Carry the dearly departed on your person and connect with them for all eternity via a very sophisticated Artificial Intelligence app. Wow. Author Chapman presents a story here that I couldn’t have ever imagined. This is probably one of the most unique novels I have read – at least in a very long time – and Chapman’s writing skill supports the story vision. The characters are instantly likeable, yet incredibly flawed. There are definitely a few face-palm moments for these guys, but I never stopped rooting for their success. I could play the whole novel out in my mind like a movie – which it easily could be, or at least join the ranks of the ever-popular technology comedy-dramas on cable. I always like to be fair in my reviews and give both pros and cons for balance. In this case, though, I really can’t see anything negative that would amount to more than just nitpicking for its own sake. Writers are told early on that there is no magic formula for success, but I disagree, and I think Chapman has found it: Great Idea + Great Characters + Great Writing = Great Novel. It really isn’t any simpler than that.

To be honest, I wasn’t too optimistic about a book that references the sale of a body part in the title – and Steve Jobs’, yet. I mean, no matter what you thought of the guy, there has to be a modicum of respect and propriety in discussing him, right? But then I stared reading … and was hooked after the first few pages. This is a wonderfully readable, sometimes hysterical, always wicked satire that skewers misguided entrepreneurship, product marketing, religion, technology, Internet startups, and, yes, PowerPoint presentations. The whole concept of using Steve Jobs’ removed and discarded liver to create a new product category that becomes a worldwide phenomenon and huge financial windfall is so ridiculous, outrageous and farfetched that I’m surprised no one has done it yet. It is a credit to the writing that you actually think this might be a good idea. The plotting is deft, as is the development of a true rogue’s gallery of lovably off-kilter characters, one loonier than the next. You don’t know if you should root for the main character or despise him. There is no black and white here, just (50 or so) shades of grey. I enjoyed this fast-reading book far more than I expected, and was entertained and surprised with every turn of the page. Highly recommended (even if you’re not an Apple fanboy).