When John Heilemann began working on a book about Silicon Valley in 1998, he discovered that he was hitting up many of the same sources as a group of lawyers from the Department of Justice. The DOJ, of course, was building its antitrust case against Microsoft, and Heilemann wanted in: "I started calling around and got the assistant attorney general to let me inside a lot of the case — as long as I didn't write anything until the trial was over."
Two years later, Katrina Heron, then Wired's editor in chief, convinced Heilemann that his material was too timely for a book — and perfect for Wired. The judge ruled on April 3; by mid-August Heilemann had 20,000 words and wasn't near done. "I said, 'Katrina, what should we do?' And she replied, 'Just keep writing.'"
Days from the publication deadline, Heilemann's draft was still incomplete. He spent the final 96 hours typing feverishly while editors pulled all-nighters and sent pages to the printer in batches. The narrative that emerged — a product of more than 400 interviews — spanned 52 pages.
"Condé Nast chair S.I. Newhouse Jr. faxed me a note saying that it rose to the level of Greek tragedy," Heilemann says. It must have felt that way to Bill Gates, but we consider it nothing short of a triumph.
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