Steve Jobs

As suggested by my recommendation of Levy’s Facebook, I’m a sucker for a big book about tech entrepreneurs, especially when the subject is as prickly and culturally relevant as Steve Jobs (the book also inspired Aaron Sorkin’s post-Social Network screenplay for 2015’s Steve Jobs, another great Silicon Valley film).

While I’m not an Apple fanboy, I am a fan of Pixar, the other company for which Jobs was CEO. Isaacson’s biography in turn offers a fast-paced history of the way computers and computing, via Apple’s designs and Pixar’s films, stopped being objects only for offices and science fiction,… show more.

In working with others, Steve Jobs was a neurotic, narcissist, and asshole—there is no disputing that. But, somehow, Isaacson provides so much detail into the real life of Steve Jobs that I almost liked Jobs—just a bit—here and there. 

Sprinkled throughout is a description of Jobs’ reality distortion field, whereby he would be confronted with using other people’s great ideas and claiming they were his very own—on Monday, he would tell a colleague their idea was shit and that no one would buy it, yet by Friday he was presenting the idea back to the original source as a great… show more.

Steve Jobs offers an intimate and comprehensive portrait of a visionary icon.

The book delves into Jobs' extraordinary life, exploring his innovative mindset, relentless pursuit of perfection, and groundbreaking contributions to technology and design. Through candid interviews and meticulous research, Isaacson presents an authentic account of Jobs' triumphs and tribulations, inspiring readers to embrace creativity, resilience, and a passion for innovation.

This biography not only reveals the complexities of Jobs as a person but also sheds light on the transformative impact he had on the world, making it a compelling and enlightening read.

This is the authorized Steve Jobs biography, which came out shortly after his death in 2011. There’s a reason that it is one of the most widely read business biographies of all time. It is comprehensive, but not all reviewers felt Isaacson fully grasped all of Steve Jobs's accomplishments sufficiently, nor truly captured his character. However, it still tells the general story of Steve Jobs's life well.

I had to enjoy a biography that revealed a subject’s character by listing his iPhone music playlist. That fact gives you a sense of this book’s detail, from every product release to every girlfriend. I particularly enjoyed making the connection between Tesla and Jobs, who “a genius at connecting art to technology, of making leaps based on intuition and imagination,” made real Tesla’s vision for a device—which “a man will be able to carry one in his vest pocket”—that allows us to “communicate with one another instantly, irrespective of distance.”