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Source Code (memoir)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Source Code: My Beginnings
AuthorBill Gates
LanguageEnglish
GenreMemoir
PublisherPenguin Random House
Publication date
February 1, 2025
Publication placeUnited States
Media typeBook
Pages336
ISBN978-0593801581

Source Code: My Beginnings is a memoir by Bill Gates. The book covers his early life and the foundation of Microsoft, ending in the late 1970s when Microsoft signed their first deal with Apple.[1] It is the first of three planned memoirs by Gates.[2] The second will cover his years at Microsoft and the third his philanthropy.[2] It was published by Penguin's imprints Alfred A. Knopf in the United States and Allen Lane in the United Kingdom.[1][3]

Reception

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Several reviewers noted Gates’s penchant for self-deprecation and his ability to humanize his success. Writing for The Guardian, Steven Poole remarked that Gates conveyed humility, in contrast to other tech titans. Poole wrote: "There is a sense of the writer, older and wiser, trying to redeem the past through understanding it better."[4] David Shaywitz of The Wall Street Journal also praised Gates’s candidness, writing that the reader is "treated to an unexpectedly revealing account".[5] In The New York Times, Jennifer Szalai liked the description of Gates's youth but found that not much happened in many parts of the memoir: "Source Code contains plenty of nicely rendered details, but as far as narrative tension goes, for the first 50 pages or so there is hardly any."[6] She wrote that Gates might have to grapple with more difficult reflections on his later years in his two upcoming memoirs.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Source Code". Penguin Books. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  2. ^ a b "My memoir Source Code is almost here". Gates Notes. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
  3. ^ "Source Code". Penguin Books. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  4. ^ Poole, Steven (2025-01-31). "Source Code: My Beginnings by Bill Gates review – refreshingly frank". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-03-08.
  5. ^ Shaywitz, David A. "'Source Code' Review: A Life of DOS and Don'ts". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2025-03-08.
  6. ^ Szalai, Jennifer (2025-01-30). "As a Kid, Bill Gates Sneaked Out His Window at Night — to Write Code". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-02-04.