WRITING SAMPLES

The Internet Gold Rush of this book's subtitle is looking more than a bit tarnished these days, but it'll probably polish up nicely again soon enough. The Internet is nothing if not an unpredictable catalyst for change - in all directions, and in many ways.

That's what "The Leap" is about - the author's seduction by and acceptance of the Internet as an agent for change, and his leap of faith into a new medium while leaving behind the security of an established career path.

This setup is simple: Ashbrook, a senior editor and veteran foreign correspondent for The Boston Globe, one of the Grand Old Dames of American newspapers, starts to feel antsy about his life when he hits the early 40s and senses there's a sea change blowing over computers, digital media such as CD-ROMs and this new thing he starts hearing about, the Internet. The year is 1993 and though the Internet is established and some early adopters are e-mailing each other on slow, ugly little services like America Online and Compuserve, the World Wide Web is not yet a viable medium.

Still, Ashbrook hears a cyber-Siren calling over these choppy waters, and he's hooked. He falls in with a college buddy and the two start a company to create a CD-ROM that would help consumers design their dream contemporary Victorian-style home. He applies for and receives a year-long Harvard fellowship, takes a sabbatical from the paper and uses the time to sculpt the early incarnations of the new company.

The company eventually evolves onto an online site and ultimately launches as homeportfolio.com, a pretty nice site where consumers can read about home decorating and remodeling and even purchase products online.

This true-life saga isn't about striking it rich in the Internet gold rush, it's about just getting the company off the ground. In that sense, it's a sobering tale for all speculators who still think there are millions to be made by learning a little bit of HTML and creating a Web page for themselves.

But because it's ultimately about just getting a company off the ground, the story's not always compelling. The first two-thirds of the book endlessly state and restate Ashbrook's leapof faith, one like his ancestors from Europe took to come to the New World, one that turns his back on his great job at the Globe.

Ashbrook wastes a lot of words thinking through his decision, but it's hard to sympathize with someone who was in top management at a multi-million dollar company, and who complains about how he and his wife together make $150,000 and they're barely getting by.

The guy got to take year off from his job to think it over before he stepped off the ledge, after all.

He (or his editors) try mightily to create some drama by focusing on his wife's increasing level of angst as the family fortunes dwindle down to nothing. But even that mood is mitigated midway through the book by her decision to stand by her man, no matter what. There was never any thought of packing up the kids and dog and leaving the crazy guy with the greed for Net gold.

Stylistically, Ashbrook betrays his years as a journalist: he writes in the clipped, no-nonsense verbiage of someone who has two hours to write something that will fit into a predetermined "news hole." Therefore, the prose isn't poetic, and seldom rises above the prosaic.

Still, the last third of the book - once he finally leaves the paper and the story is about the landing, not the leap - is a fun read. For those of us who don't have a business background, it's a breakneck introduction to how a startup company begins as a vision and is funded initially by "angel" investors such as friends and family, but needs the nourishment of venture capitalists who demand larger and larger shares of the company they invest in.

During one of the new company's more panic-stricken moments, when the partners need $1 million because a venture capital company who had loaned them money could take control, Ashbrook begins to unravel.

"A million dollars. No problem. We'll just call up the million-dollar shop and order a million dollars. Done.

"We had just over $200,000 left in the bank. We kept pushing."

Ashbrook's story will be an eye-opening peek for people outside the industry into the insanity of the Internet frenzy. It makes it all the more enjoyable that, by the epilogue, there's a happy ending to the story, so far. And, failing all else, let's face it, at its most cynical, the book is a smart and effective marketing vehicle for the Web site.