One of the inescapable aspects of working at Boston magazine is that one time or another, you’ll end up reading at least two or three Ben Mezrich books for work — after all, he’s our town’s biggest celebrity author. Whether this required reading is a perk or a peril depends on the staffer, but I personally am agnostic. Basically I boil it down to these issues: I’ve long found much of Mezrich’s writing flat and clichéd (though he improves with every book), and I have major problems with his infamous ”re-created dialogue” and spiced-up narrative that he inserts into what he markets as non-fiction. On the other hand, though, I can’t deny that his books are entertaining, brisk reads. And I have to give him credit for creating a one-man book/movie industry around himself — a feat that reached its apotheosis earlier this year when The Social Network‘s screenplay won an Oscar, based in part on Mezrich’s bestselling Facebook saga, The Accidental Billionaires. And in the end, he seems a nice enough chap, so bully for him. What’s next?
