'The Ancient Nine': Ian K. Smith offers a glimpse inside Harvard final clubs

Ian K. Smith's latest book, "The Ancient Nine," draws on his days when he was "punched" for one of Harvard's elite final clubs - traditionally all-male clubhouses situated in mansions on Harvard Square that hold secrets and antiquities. (Per Smith, members have included Matt Damon, T.S. Eliot, Bill Gates, President John F. Kennedy, President Theodore Roosevelt and William Randolph Hearst.)

In the novel, Spenser Collins is a member of the class of '91, a native of Chicago's South Side and pre-med student with some very legacied friends. When he's not studying or playing for the Harvard