The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley’s Pursuit of Power by Max Chafkin. It provides a detailed biography of Peter Thiel, a prominent venture capitalist and co-founder of PayPal, tracing his career from his days as a student at Stanford University to his current position as a powerful figure in the tech industry and a prominent supporter of controversial political figures. The book explores Thiel’s complex and often contradictory beliefs, including his embrace of libertarianism, his support for Donald Trump, and his deep-seated skepticism about traditional institutions, and analyzes how these beliefs have shaped his business ventures and political activities.