Editor's note: Blake J. Harris is the bestselling author of Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation, which is currently being adapted for television by Legendary Entertainment, producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and Scott Rudin. His second book, The History of The Future-which was published on February 19-chronicles the dramatic, larger-than-life true story behind the founding of Oculus, and its quest for virtual reality, and the company's $3 billion acquisition by Facebook. What follows is an interview with Harris conducted by Quillette's Clay Routledge.
Clay Routledge: I just finished your latest book,
The History of the Future. And I have to tell you, I tore through it. Such a fascinating story in so many ways. What made you interested in telling the story of Oculus VR and its founder, Palmer Luckey?
Blake J. Harris: So back in 2014, my first book was published. This was a big, life-changing experience for me. Prior to that-for the previous eight years-I had been a commodities broker, buying and selling things like sugar, coffee and soybeans for Brazilian clients. But with the publication of Console Wars, I was able to quit that job and follow my dream (mostly I mean "writing", but a little part of me also means "never wearing pants" #ShortsForLife). Anyway, as I was saying, Console Wars was life-changing for me; and one of the cool things that happened early on was that Popular Mechanics decided to write a feature about me. Needless to say, this was a VERY big deal in the Harris family. And so when the issue came out-on Mother's Day 2014-I slipped away from our family brunch to go pick up a copy of the issue from a nearby bodega, feeling so excited; my big moment! Except instead of flipping through the magazine and checking out the piece about me, I was captivated by the person on the cover: a 21-year-old-kid wearing a virtual reality headset-and the story about his VR startup. I took it as a good sign that by the time I got back to our family brunch all I could talk about was what I'd read about this kid (Palmer Luckey) and his incredible company (Oculus).
From there, it took me nearly two years to get the access I would need to accurately and authentically tell this story, and then it took over three years to actually research and write the book (especially because-as I'm sure we'll get to-the, uh, "unexpected twist").
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