Steve Jobs

Summary (from the publisher): In Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography, Isaacson provides an extraordinary account of Jobs' professional and personal life. Drawn from three years of exclusive and unprecedented interviews Isaacson has conducted with Jobs as well as extensive interviews with Jobs' family members and key colleagues from Apple and its competitors, Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography is the definitive portrait of the greatest innovator of his generation.

Review: This is a comprehensive (I would perhaps even go so far as to say exhaustive) biography of Steve Jobs. Isaacson interviewed "more than a hundred friends, relatives, competitors, adversaries, and colleagues" in order to write this book and had unprecedented access to Jobs himself (xx). Ultimately, Isaacson does a thorough job of outlining Jobs' life and doing so in such a way that allows the reader to come to their own conclusions about the man. Jobs was mercurial, passionate, frequently cruel, competitive, obsessed with technology and design, consumed by perfectionism and obsessive/restrictive eating habits, and brilliant at pursuing his goals and pushing those around him to achieve the near impossible. It is undeniable that he transformed the technology world and also the everyday life of millions who use his products.  

In detailing the life of Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson also provides insight into the history of Apple and Pixar, which gives this biography a personal, relatable touch. The vast majority of readers will have personal experience with Apple products, will remember the iconic Apple commercials, or seen at least one of the Pixar films. Hearing the story behind these products was fascinating. It was also interesting seeing that the reason for Jobs' success is not necessarily his technical knowledge but his passion for design and marketing, or as he saw it, the intersection between science and liberal arts. While he couldn't necessarily do the coding needed for his products to run, his passion and ruthless energy to develop and market his products are the reason they succeeded.

Sections of this book I found particularly interesting included the details about Jobs' adoptive and biological families, the description of his insane eating habits, the insight into Jobs' obsessive need for perfection that even limited his ability to furnish his homes, his interesting relationship with wealth and relatively modest lifestyle, his passion for advertising and marketing his products, and the behind the scenes details about his cancer illness and final years. Steve Jobs is an intriguing figure and Isaacson does an excellent job of capturing how complex, contradictory, difficult, and inspiring he could truly be.

At times I did feel like the narrative got bogged down in the business details of Jobs' life, although that is certainly where Jobs' focus and energy were devoted, so I understood the author's choice. One of my favorite sections was the opening that talked about his childhood, but it was briefly summarized in one chapter and left me wanting more details. I also felt as if all of Steve's personal relationships very much faded into the background of this book. For instance, there was no detail about when or how Steve Jobs' adoptive father died, much of anything about his sister Patty, and relatively few details about his wife or children. Of course, Jobs' really spent his life at work so in some ways this choice made sense, but it did leave me curious about the people in his life.

Stars: 4