steve jobs biography walter isaacson

• Sign up and get a free ebook!
• Don't miss our ebook deals!

Free shipping when you spend $40. Terms apply.

• Unabridged Audio Download
• Abridged Audio Download
• Abridged Compact Disk
• Unabridged Compact Disk

Trade Paperback

LIST PRICE $22.00

Buy from Other Retailers

• Amazon logo
• Bookshop logo

Table of Contents

Reading group guide, about the book.

Get a FREE ebook by joining our mailing list today! Plus, receive recommendations for your next Book Club read.

About The Author

Walter Isaacson is the bestselling author of biographies of Jennifer Doudna, Leonardo da Vinci, Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin, and Albert Einstein. He is a professor of history at Tulane and was CEO of the Aspen Institute, chair of CNN, and editor of Time . He was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2023. Visit him at Isaacson.Tulane.edu.

Product Details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (October 5, 2021)
• Length: 672 pages
• ISBN13: 9781982176860

Browse Related Books

• Business & Economics > Leadership
• Biography & Autobiography > Business
• Biography & Autobiography > Composers & Musicians
• Computers > History

Related Articles

• 12 Mathematical Books to Help You Solve Your Reading Rut Problem - Off the Shelf
• 11 Exceptional Audiobooks for Your Every Mood - Off the Shelf
• 13 Books You’ll Want to Read Before They Hit the Big Screen - Off the Shelf
• Chipotle’s Literary Salon: The Books Behind the Burritos - Off the Shelf

Awards and Honors

• Heather's Pick - Fiction

Resources and Downloads

High resolution images.

• Book Cover Image (jpg): Steve Jobs Trade Paperback 9781982176860

Get a FREE ebook by joining our mailing list today!

Plus, receive recommendations and exclusive offers on all of your favorite books and authors from Simon & Schuster.

More books from this author: Walter Isaacson

You may also like: Thriller and Mystery Staff Picks

Select your cookie preferences

We use cookies and similar tools that are necessary to enable you to make purchases, to enhance your shopping experiences and to provide our services, as detailed in our Cookie notice . We also use these cookies to understand how customers use our services (for example, by measuring site visits) so we can make improvements.

If you agree, we'll also use cookies to complement your shopping experience across the Amazon stores as described in our Cookie notice . Your choice applies to using first-party and third-party advertising cookies on this service. Cookies store or access standard device information such as a unique identifier. The 96 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. Click "Decline" to reject, or "Customise" to make more detailed advertising choices, or learn more. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences , as described in the Cookie notice. To learn more about how and for what purposes Amazon uses personal information (such as Amazon Store order history), please visit our Privacy notice .

• Professionals & Academics

Sorry, there was a problem.

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet or computer – no Kindle device required .

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

Image Unavailable

• To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the author

Steve Jobs by Waater Isaacson: The Exclusive Biography Paperback – 5 Feb. 2015

'This is a riveting book, with as much to say about the transformation of modern life in the information age as about its supernaturally gifted and driven subject' - Telegraph Based on more than forty interviews with Steve Jobs conducted over two years - as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, , and colleagues - this is the acclaimed, internationally bestselling biography of the ultimate icon of inventiveness. Walter Isaacson tells the story of the rollercoaster life and searingly intense personality of creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies,music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing. Although Jobs cooperated with this book, he asked for no control over what was written, nor even the right to read it before it was published. He put nothing off limits. He encouraged the people he knew to speak honestly. And Jobs speaks candidly, sometimes brutally so, about the people he worked with and competed against. His friends, foes, and colleagues provide an unvarnished view of the passions, perfectionism, obsessions, artistry, devilry, and compulsion for control that shaped his approach to business and the innovative products that resulted.

• Print length 592 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Abacus
• Publication date 5 Feb. 2015
• Dimensions 12.8 x 3.8 x 19.5 cm
• See all details

Product description

Book description, about the author, product details.

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ 034914043X
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Abacus; 8th edition (5 Feb. 2015)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 592 pages
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.8 x 3.8 x 19.5 cm
• 4 in Computer Scientist Biographies

About the author

Walter isaacson.

Walter Isaacson is writing a biography of Elon Musk. He is the author of The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race; Leonardo da Vinci; Steve Jobs; Einstein: His Life and Universe; Benjamin Franklin: An American Life; The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution; and Kissinger: A Biography. He is also the coauthor of The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made. He is a Professor of History at Tulane, has been CEO of the Aspen Institute, chairman of CNN, and editor of Time magazine.

Customer reviews

• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 5 star 78% 17% 3% 1% 1% 78%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 4 star 78% 17% 3% 1% 1% 17%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 3 star 78% 17% 3% 1% 1% 3%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 2 star 78% 17% 3% 1% 1% 1%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 1 star 78% 17% 3% 1% 1% 1%

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings, help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyses reviews to verify trustworthiness.

Customers say

Customers find the book great, excellent, and outstanding. They describe the content as well-written and enjoyable. Readers find the story insightful, eye-opening, and inspiring. They also describe the story as gripping and full of little anecdotes. Customers describe the book as stunning, brilliant, and lucid. Opinions are mixed on authenticity, with some finding it honest and truthful, while others say it's not a true biography.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Customers find the book great, valuable, and fascinating. They say it's an outstanding piece of work. Readers also mention the prose is never dull.

"... It's an excellent read ." Read more

"...The result - outstanding products and outstanding commercial success...." Read more

"... Very very valuable book . 5 stars, period...." Read more

"...The book is a great read , it’s hard to put down. The great thing about Isaacson’s work is that you don’t notice Isaacson...." Read more

Customers find the book well-written, easy to read, and enjoyable. They appreciate the great details about his life, both from his perspective and from people who knew him. Readers also say the book is objective and fascinating.

"...The writing is accessible , and while, as someone has said in a review, it repeats material that is already 'out there', to have omitted it would..." Read more

"...the detailed research and numerous interviews melded into very clear and readable prose .It's an excellent read." Read more

"...I enjoyed reading the biography ...." Read more

"...5 stars, period.And the last thing, Walter Isaacson’s books are so well written -you can’t stop reading any of it, is like sliding the slides..." Read more

Customers find the book insightful, fascinating, and eye-opening. They say it's inspiring for people who like technology. Readers also mention the book is stimulating and a bible for any thinking person.

"...He was an electric and inspiring person to watch in action ...." Read more

"...Which is actually great for those interested in the tech industry, it's informative and can be used as a reference book...." Read more

"...The books provides an intriguing and fascinating insight into Jobs' life, from birth right through to the terminal cancer that riddled his body...." Read more

"...The man is whip smart , he knows his stuff, this is no mere hack job...." Read more

Customers find the story fascinating, incredible, and gripping. They say it's full of little anecdotes to illustrate the life and personality of someone. Readers also mention the book opens with an interesting account of how Jobs grew up.

"Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs is a gripping tale that reveals the complexities of a man driven by an unwavering belief in his mission to..." Read more

"First, the book. It is packed with anecdote , wisely interpreted with unbroken narrative energy...." Read more

"...myriad, intertwining threads of a lifetime into a cohesive and coherent narrative ...." Read more

Customers find the book stunning, brilliant, and lucid. They say the author reveals the different layers of Jobs in a clear, concise fashion. Readers also appreciate the excellent, comprehensive, and well-rounded portrait of a man.

"...The front and back look great and perfectly in line with the style of Apples products, its marketing materials and packages...." Read more

"...the preeminence of good design in creating products of unimaginable beauty and simplicity ...." Read more

"...at putting all the ideas and products around him into a beautifully designed creation that was easy to use...." Read more

"...I felt the Author has produced an excellent, comprehensive and well rounded portrait of a man whose influence on our lives still reverberates years..." Read more

Customers have mixed opinions about the authenticity of the book. Some mention the author is very honest and truthful. However, others say the book is not a true biography, lacks drama, and doesn't fully explore the character of Steve Jobs.

"...Isaacson's portrayal is neither overly critical nor blindly admiring , offering a nuanced view of Jobs as more than just a CEO but a visionary with a..." Read more

"...It seems accurate and candid . This is no sycophantic tribute...." Read more

"...The only warning I think I should give is there are a lot of full names in the book ...." Read more

"...There is a mostly balanced view of Jobs' complex personality , which has obviously been gained from lots of interviews with his family, business..." Read more

Reviews with images

Just amazing story

• Sort reviews by Top reviews Most recent Top reviews

Top reviews from United Kingdom

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. please try again later..

Top reviews from other countries

• UK Modern Slavery Statement
• Amazon Science
• Sell on Amazon
• Sell on Amazon Business
• Sell on Amazon Handmade
• Associates Programme
• Fulfilment by Amazon
• Seller Fulfilled Prime
• Advertise Your Products
• Independently Publish with Us
• Host an Amazon Hub
• › See More Make Money with Us
• The Amazon Barclaycard
• Credit Card
• Amazon Money Store
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Payment Methods Help
• Shop with Points
• Top Up Your Account
• Top Up Your Account in Store
• COVID-19 and Amazon
• Track Packages or View Orders
• Delivery Rates & Policies
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices
• Amazon Mobile App
• Customer Service
• Accessibility

• Conditions of Use & Sale
• Privacy Notice
• Cookies Notice
• Interest-Based Ads Notice

• Book Review

Book review: 'Steve Jobs' by Walter Isaacson

Review of walter isaacson's biography of steve jobs.

By Laura June

Share this story

Walter Isaacson’s biography of  Steve Jobs  is in some ways another product created from the mind of its subject. Though Jobs was insistent that he wouldn’t interfere with the writing of the book (and in fact he seems not to have read any part of it), he hand-picked Isaacson to lay down his legacy for all to see. Why he chose him is not surprising: Isaacson’s biographies of Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein are engrossing, epic, and readable studies of men who changed history. That Steve Jobs saw himself in this light (and such august company) is neither shocking nor unjustified. And while Isaacson never shies away from Jobs’s often vitriolic temper (and indeed he sometimes seems to dwell on it to make his point), it is clear that in some respects, Steve Jobs is a book told through the often discussed "reality distortion field" of Steve Jobs himself: though other opinions or sides to a story are presented, Steve always has the last, blunt word.

Given the unprecedented access to Jobs and his blessing to interview those close to him presents the reader with a vast and exceedingly complex — but also incredibly consistent — portrait of the man who created Apple and some of the most important technology products of this century. In many ways, the Jobs of the early ’80s at the outset of his breathtaking career is the same feisty and impetuous man we find at the end of the book, picking apart his plans to build a yacht that he knew he would likely never see to completion. Jobs, at least according to this tale, didn’t evolve so much as he forced the world around him to do so. Isaacson’s mastery of the form is evident throughout, and he weaves the tale of Jobs’s life deftly.

For technology enthusiasts and those who followed Steve Jobs’s life as though he were Bob Dylan, the biography reinforces the previously known timeline. Jobs’s own admission early in the process with Isaacson that he didn’t "have any skeletons" in his "closet that can’t be allowed out" is largely true (Isaacson, xx). There are no shocking revelations, but the nuance brought to the events by the wide array of characters Isaacson spent time with, and Jobs’s candid and original perspective, never fail to bring well-known events into sharp and personal focus. One example which was well-documented in the media at the time and which gets several pages of attention in the book is the issue of the iPhone 4′s antenna problems. The story, as told in the book, is significant for a few reasons. First, the book reveals that the band of steel around the edge of the phone was never a big hit with Apple’s engineers, who warned that it could cause reception problems. But Apple’s SVP of Industrial Design Jonathan Ive and Steve Jobs, living deep in the "reality distortion field" which is repeatedly referred to in the book (and which Jobs’s wife more strikingly terms "magical thinking") insisted that the engineers could figure out how to make it work, to the point that they (Ive and Jobs) even resisted putting a clear coating of varnish on the band to make problems less likely. Secondly, when problems did, in fact, arise, the book makes clear how personally Jobs took the entire situation, going so far as to adamantly suggest that Apple simply ignore the issue, because in his mind, there was no problem, saying, "Fuck this, it’s not worth it" (Isaacson, 521). Only when Tim Cook implored him to face facts did Jobs decide to hold a press conference and offer solutions.

Likewise, it is almost amusing and even a bit sad to read of Jobs’s depression and anger on the evening following the debut of the iPad. Isaacson was by then, somewhat embedded in the Jobs household, and he notes that "as we gathered in his kitchen for dinner, he paced around the table calling up emails and web pages on his iPhone." Jobs told him, "I got about eight hundred email messages in the last twenty-four hours. Most of them are complaining. There’s no USB cord! There’s no this, no that. Some of them are like, ‘Fuck you, how can you do that?’ I don’t usually write people back, but I replied, ‘Your parents would be so proud of how you turned out.’ And some don’t like the iPad name, and on and on. I kind of got depressed today. It knocks you back a bit" (Isaacon, 495). In this and every previous or future launch, Jobs took the products, and their reception, very personally. In every phase of development, from inception to advertisements, he was a dictator, and, as the book underlines quite clearly, people who reacted badly or were underwhelmed simply didn’t get it. The book is rife with such personal perspectives of what are hallowed occurrences in the timeline of Jobs and Apple.

Jobs’s many achievements are tallied in detail, and while they are well known — the Macintosh, Pixar, the iMac, the iPhone, the iPad — it has only been previously assumed that Jobs was closely involved. Now all of his interactions with Apple’s products are truly exposed, in great, painstaking detail. That Jobs was exhaustively involved from beginning to end in the creation of these products and companies — even during the years in which he was gravely ill — is a testament to his work ethic, his creativity, and his genius. While Steve Jobs never shies away from turning a critical eye on its subject, it rightfully gives much credit to Jobs where it is due. People have long pointed out that Jobs could be an "asshole," and while the book never outright denies such a description, the sheer volume of his achievements and creations often puts the erratic and childish behavior into soft focus. In fact, the book seems to suggest that Jobs’s fantastic career was born out of his harsh, demanding attitude, rather than in spite of it. "I don’t think I run roughshod over people," Jobs told Isaacson, "but if something sucks, I tell people to their face. It’s my job to be honest. I know what I’m talking about, and I usually turn out to be right. That’s the culture I tried to create. We are brutally honest with each other, and anyone can tell me they think I am full of shit and I can tell them the same" (Isaacson, 568-569). Rather than exposing Jobs an "asshole," the biography presents, front to back, a human being who was essentially incapable of being phony, even if doing so would make him appear better to others.

The book also emphasizes, in anecdotes that probably aren’t totally surprising, Jobs’s belief, from the beginning of his career to the end of it, that everything should be (and was if possible), in his control. This meant not just making hardware and software into a closed ecosystem, but also controlling what could be done with the actual products once purchased. The stubborn surety that he knew what was right for himself and everyone else famously resulted in Macs and iPhones which were hard to open up and hack (even adding special screws to the latter to make it more difficult), and in the fact that the iPad wouldn’t display Flash. It also resulted, however, in Jobs stubbornly and often refusing to eat (even when sick), in a belief that being vegan meant he didn’t have to shower, and in a resistance to allow his doctors to remove the cancerous tumor on his colon for nine months in 2003.

Jobs’s managerial style (or lack of one), had been previously well-documented after his ouster from Apple, but the biography is probably at its harshest when describing his various working relationships with other people. We are presented with personal accounts of a well-known volatility that is increasingly shocking, sometimes delusional, and always, in the mind of its subject, justified. One of the true revelations of the book is that Steve Jobs cried — a lot, and in the presence of his co-workers. From the earliest days of his career when he cried to Steve Wozniak’s father Jerry about getting Woz to come work at Apple full time, he broke down in tears regularly when frustrated, when cornered, when happy or touched, and when angry. Though his return to Apple did seem to bring some temperance and evenness to his management efforts, Jobs never stopped openly crying when emotion overwhelmed him.

The sections where  Bill Gates  — who was sometimes an insider and sometimes not — weighs in, are variously the most touching, sometimes the most interesting, and often do the most to underline the great chasm of difference there was between the two personalities. While Jobs avoids branding him with his favorite and oft-used title "bozo," Gates, in this tale, truly doesn’t get it a lot of the time, but he gets that he doesn’t get it. On the success of the iPad, Gates tells Isaacson, "Here I am, merely saving the world from malaria and that sort of thing, and Steve is still coming up with amazing new products," adding, "Maybe I should have stayed in that game" (Isaacson, 553).

Throughout the book, Jobs is incredibly and sometimes amusingly cutting about various friends, former colleagues, business associates, and even celebrities. Many people, in his view (including but not limited to John Mayer, President Obama, Google, and Rupert Murdoch) were constantly "blowing it." He makes it clear that grudges held could often be permanent. When speaking of Jon Rubinstein, a former Apple executive who helped give birth to the iPod and was then head of Palm, Jobs admits to having emailed Bono, a Palm investor, to complain when the company began trying to make an iPhone competitor. Bono replied that his remarks were akin to "the Beatles ringing up because Herman and the Hermits have taken one of their road crew" (Isaacson, 459). "The fact that they [Palm] completely failed salves that wound," Jobs says (Isaacson, 460).

Jobs perspective that certain things "sucked" could often be influenced by other factors. For example, it’s hard to tell if Jobs truly thought that Android is "crap," or if he says it because he was involved in a lengthy battle against Google over patent infringement. What emerges from the Android discussion, however, is that Jobs passionately believed that it was a stolen product. Isaacson was with Jobs the week Apple filed its lawsuit against Google, when Jobs was the "angriest he’d ever seen him."

"Our lawsuit is saying, ‘Google, you fucking ripped off the iPhone, wholesale ripped us off.’ Grand theft. I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple’s $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong. I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product. I’m willing to go to thermonuclear war on this. They are scared to death, because they know they are guilty. Outside of Search, Google’s products — Android, Google Docs — are shit" (Isaacson, 511-512). In fact, there are few people and companies Jobs sets his sights on who don’t fail to cut the mustard on many levels. Notable exceptions are the Beatles (who Jobs talks about at length in one of the most insightful sections of the book), his wife Laurene, and Jony Ive.

Though none of the Beatles weigh in on Jobs, both Laurene and Ive do, and Ive in particular seems to grapple with Jobs’s personality, telling Isaacson "He’s a very, very sensitive guy. That’s one of the things that make his antisocial behavior, his rudeness, so unconscionable" (Isaacson, 462). Ive is significant to the book in other ways, as Jobs’s main creative brother-in-arms, and, as the story progresses, it is clear that both men struggled with the idea of a post-Jobs Apple. For nearly the entire latter half of the book, and much of Jobs’s "phase two" at Apple, his health was a near constant concern for those closest to him, and Ive was in that inner-circle. When Jobs returned from a two-month stay in Memphis in May 2009 following his liver transplant, Ive and Cook were there to meet him and his wife on the tarmac. Both Ive and Jobs reported feeling the same way — Ive was "devastated" and "underappreciated" by media stories questioning the ability of  Apple to innovate without Jobs , while Jobs was somewhat miffed at Cook’s earnings report call where he suggested that Apple could do just that. "He didn’t know whether to be proud or hurt that it might be true," Issacson writes. "There was talk that he might step aside and become chairman rather than CEO. That made him all the more motivated to get out of his bed, overcome the pain, and start taking his restorative walks again" (Isaacson, 488). The book thus is oddly positioned in that its subject, near the end of the story, is well aware that he is very likely near the end of his career, and indeed, he tells Isaacson on their last meeting, "I’ve done all that I can do" (Isaacson, 559).

In that respect, Jobs the man is consistent throughout, expressing little regret or dissatisfaction with himself, except for his repeated wish that he had spent more time with his children, who, he says, were his main motivation for cooperating with and encouraging that a biography be written at all. In a world where people and media will pay actual money for one glimpse of a dying and frail CEO, Steve Jobs will not be the final book on the man, but it will be the only one told largely in his words, and the only one in which he had the final say on its cover. All the other books will no doubt be written by bozos who blow it.

iOS 18 is a smart upgrade, even without the AI

The great evernote reboot, apple airpods 4 review: defying expectations, amazon is making its employees come back to the office five days a week, sony reportedly picked amd over intel for the ps6.

More from Apple

Here are the best Apple Watch deals right now

The best Presidents Day deals you can already get

The shine comes off the Vision Pro

Apple unbanned Epic so it can make an iOS games store in the EU

Advertisement

Supported by

Books of The Times

Making the iBio for Apple’s Genius

• Share full article

By Janet Maslin

• Oct. 21, 2011

After Steve Jobs anointed Walter Isaacson as his authorized biographer in 2009, he took Mr. Isaacson to see the Mountain View, Calif., house in which he had lived as a boy. He pointed out its “clean design” and “awesome little features.” He praised the developer, Joseph Eichler, who built more than 11,000 homes in California subdivisions, for making an affordable product on a mass-market scale. And he showed Mr. Isaacson the stockade fence built 50 years earlier by his father, Paul Jobs.

“He loved doing things right,” Mr. Jobs said. “He even cared about the look of the parts you couldn’t see.”

Mr. Jobs, the brilliant and protean creator whose inventions so utterly transformed the allure of technology, turned those childhood lessons into an all-purpose theory of intelligent design. He gave Mr. Isaacson a chance to play by the same rules. His story calls for a book that is clear, elegant and concise enough to qualify as an iBio. Mr. Isaacson’s “Steve Jobs” does its solid best to hit that target.

As a biographer of Albert Einstein and Benjamin Franklin , Mr. Isaacson knows how to explicate and celebrate genius: revered, long-dead genius. But he wrote “Steve Jobs” as its subject was mortally ill, and that is a more painful and delicate challenge. (He had access to members of the Jobs family at a difficult time.) Mr. Jobs promised not to look over Mr. Isaacson’s shoulder, and not to meddle with anything but the book’s cover. (Boy, does it look great.) And he expressed approval that the book would not be entirely flattering. But his legacy was at stake. And there were awkward questions to be asked. At the end of the volume, Mr. Jobs answers the question “What drove me?” by discussing himself in the past tense.

Mr. Isaacson treats “Steve Jobs” as the biography of record, which means that it is a strange book to read so soon after its subject’s death. Some of it is an essential Silicon Valley chronicle, compiling stories well known to tech aficionados but interesting to a broad audience. Some of it is already quaint. Mr. Jobs’s first job was at Atari, and it involved the game Pong. (“If you’re under 30, ask your parents,” Mr. Isaacson writes.) Some, like an account of the release of the iPad 2, is so recent that it is hard to appreciate yet, even if Mr. Isaacson says the device comes to life “like the face of a tickled baby.” 

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and  log into  your Times account, or  subscribe  for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber?  Log in .

Want all of The Times?  Subscribe .

• 4.6 • 21.1K Ratings

Publisher Description

Walter Isaacson’s “enthralling” ( The New Yorker ) worldwide bestselling biography of Apple cofounder Steve Jobs. Based on more than forty interviews with Steve Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than 100 family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing. At a time when America is seeking ways to sustain its innovative edge, Jobs stands as the ultimate icon of inventiveness and applied imagination. He knew that the best way to create value in 21st century was to connect creativity with technology. He built a company where leaps of the imagination were combined with remarkable feats of engineering. Although Jobs cooperated with the author, he asked for no control over what was written. He put nothing off-limits. He encouraged the people he knew to speak honestly. And Jobs speaks candidly, sometimes brutally so, about the people he worked with and competed against. His friends, foes, and colleagues provide an unvarnished view of the passions, perfectionism, obsessions, artistry, devilry, and compulsion for control that shaped his approach to business and the innovative products that resulted. Driven by demons, Jobs could drive those around him to fury and despair. But his personality and products were interrelated, just as Apple’s hardware and software tended to be, as if part of an integrated system. His tale is instructive and cautionary, filled with lessons about innovation, character, leadership, and values. Steve Jobs is the inspiration for the movie of the same name starring Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, and Jeff Daniels, directed by Danny Boyle with a screenplay by Aaron Sorkin.

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY DEC 19, 2011

If not the greatest of computer moguls, the late Apple Computer co-founder was certainly the most colorful and charismatic to judge by this compelling biography. Journalist Isaacson (Albert Einstein) had his subject's intimate cooperation but doesn't shy away from Jobs's off-putting traits: the egomania; the shameless theft of ideas; the "reality distortion field" of lies and delusions; the veering between manipulative charm and cold betrayal; the bullying rages, profanity and weeping; the bizarre vegetarian diets that he believed would ward off body odor and cancer (he was tragically wrong on both counts). Isaacson also sees the constructive flip-side of Jobs's flaws, arguing that his crazed perfectionism and sublime sense of design he wanted even his computers' circuit boards to be visually elegant begat brilliant innovations, from the Mac to the iPad, that blended "poetry and processors." The author oversells Jobs as the digital artiste pitting well-crafted, vertically integrated personal computing experiences against the promiscuously licensed, bulk-commodity software profferred by his Microsoft rival Bill Gates. (Gates's acerbic commentary on Jobs's romanticism often steals the page.) Still, Isaacson's exhaustively researched but well-paced, candid and gripping narrative gives us a great warts-and-all portrait of an entrepreneurial spirit and one of the best accounts yet of the human side of the computer biz. Photos.

Customer Reviews

Worth the wait..

Have been waiting for Steve's official biography since the early 2000… My patience finally paid off with this great book, this is the day I have been waiting for. Thank you Steve for leaving behind this wealth for us, RIP... and thank you Walter for the great mastery in translating Steve's thoughts in words for us. :)!

Fascinating topic, poor writing. Needs an Update!

I love Apple and Steve. Because of this, I pre-ordered this book from iBook Store months ago. The book is interesting because the subject is riveting. However, the writing is very poor. There are numerous grammatical errors, paragraphs don't flow, and chapters end abruptly. (E.g. "His father was calm and gentle, traits that his son later praised more than emulated. He was also resolute." and " He walked into the room of the student who had offered to buy it only to discover that he was having sex with his girlfriend." Who's he, whose son, whose girlfriend?!) I realize the book was rushed, but it really needs some editing. I would love to get the updated 1.1 version.

Amazing, inspiring, incredible.

This biography by Walter Isaacson was well done. It clearly reiterates one of Steve Jobs' most famous quotes. "Stay hungry. Stay foolish."

More Books Like This

More books by walter isaacson, customers also bought.

Ask the publishers to restore access to 500,000+ books.

Internet Archive Audio

• This Just In
• Grateful Dead
• Old Time Radio
• 78 RPMs and Cylinder Recordings
• Audio Books & Poetry
• Computers, Technology and Science
• Music, Arts & Culture
• News & Public Affairs
• Spirituality & Religion
• Radio News Archive

• Flickr Commons
• Occupy Wall Street Flickr
• NASA Images
• Solar System Collection
• Ames Research Center

• All Software
• Old School Emulation
• MS-DOS Games
• Historical Software
• Classic PC Games
• Software Library
• Kodi Archive and Support File
• Vintage Software
• CD-ROM Software
• CD-ROM Software Library
• Software Sites
• Tucows Software Library
• Shareware CD-ROMs
• Software Capsules Compilation
• CD-ROM Images
• ZX Spectrum
• DOOM Level CD

• Smithsonian Libraries
• FEDLINK (US)
• Lincoln Collection
• American Libraries
• Canadian Libraries
• Universal Library
• Project Gutenberg
• Children's Library
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• Books by Language
• Additional Collections

• Prelinger Archives
• Democracy Now!
• Occupy Wall Street
• TV NSA Clip Library
• Animation & Cartoons
• Arts & Music
• Computers & Technology
• Cultural & Academic Films
• Ephemeral Films
• Sports Videos
• Videogame Videos
• Youth Media

Search the history of over 866 billion web pages on the Internet.

Mobile Apps

• Wayback Machine (iOS)
• Wayback Machine (Android)

Browser Extensions

Archive-it subscription.

• Explore the Collections
• Build Collections

Save Page Now

Capture a web page as it appears now for use as a trusted citation in the future.

Please enter a valid web address

• Donate Donate icon An illustration of a heart shape

Bookreader Item Preview

Share or embed this item, flag this item for.

• Graphic Violence
• Explicit Sexual Content
• Hate Speech
• Misinformation/Disinformation
• Marketing/Phishing/Advertising
• Misleading/Inaccurate/Missing Metadata

plus-circle Add Review comment Reviews

4,958 Views

98 Favorites

Better World Books

DOWNLOAD OPTIONS

No suitable files to display here.

IN COLLECTIONS

Uploaded by station47.cebu on July 17, 2020

SIMILAR ITEMS (based on metadata)

• Skip to main content
• Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

Author Interviews

• LISTEN & FOLLOW
• Apple Podcasts
• Amazon Music

Your support helps make our show possible and unlocks access to our sponsor-free feed.

Jobs' Biography: Thoughts On Life, Death And Apple

Walter Isaacson's biography of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was published Monday, less than three weeks after Job's death on Oct. 5.

When Steve Jobs was 6 years old, his young next door neighbor found out he was adopted. "That means your parents abandoned you and didn't want you," she told him.

Jobs ran into his home, where his adoptive parents reassured him that he was theirs and that they wanted him.

"[They said] 'You were special, we chose you out, you were chosen," says biographer Walter Isaacson. "And that helped give [Jobs] a sense of being special. ... For Steve Jobs, he felt throughout his life that he was on a journey — and he often said, 'The journey was the reward.' But that journey involved resolving conflicts about ... his role in this world: why he was here and what it was all about."

When Jobs died on Oct. 5 from complications of pancreatic cancer, many people felt a sense of personal loss for the Apple co-founder and former CEO. Jobs played a key role in the creation of the Macintosh, the iPod, iTunes, the iPhone, the iPad — innovative devices and technologies that people have integrated into their daily lives.

Buy Featured Book

Your purchase helps support NPR programming. How?

• Independent Bookstores

Jobs detailed how he created those products — and how he rose through the world of Silicon Valley, competed with Google and Microsoft, and helped transform popular culture — in a series of extended interviews with Isaacson, the president of The Aspen Institute and the author of biographies of Albert Einstein and Benjamin Franklin. The two men met more than 40 times throughout 2009 and 2010, often in Jobs' living room. Isaacson also conducted more than 100 interviews with Jobs' colleagues, relatives, friends and adversaries.

His biography tells the story of how Jobs revolutionized the personal computer. It also tells Jobs' personal story — from his childhood growing up in Mountain View, Calif., to his lifelong interest in Zen Buddhism to his relationship with family and friends.

In his last meetings with Isaacson, Jobs shifted the conversation to his thoughts regarding religion and death.

"I remember sitting in the back garden on a sunny day [on a day when] he was feeling bad, and he talked about whether or not he believed in an afterlife," Isaacson tells Fresh Air 's Terry Gross. "He said, 'Sometimes I'm 50-50 on whether there's a God. It's the great mystery we never quite know. But I like to believe there's an afterlife. I like to believe the accumulated wisdom doesn't just disappear when you die, but somehow it endures."

Jobs paused for a second, remembers Isaacson.

"And then he says, 'But maybe it's just like an on/off switch and click — and you're gone.' And then he paused for another second and he smiled and said, 'Maybe that's why I didn't like putting on/off switches on Apple devices.' "

'The Depth Of The Simplicity'

Jobs' attention to detail on his creations was unrivaled, says Isaacson. Though he was a technologist and a businessman, he was also an artist and designer.

"[He] connected art with technology," explains Isaacson. "[In his products,] he obsessed over the color of the screws, over the finish of the screws — even the screws you couldn't see." Even with the original Macintosh, he made sure that the circuit board's chips were lined up properly and looked good. He made them go back and redo the circuit board. He made them find the right color, find the right curves on the screw. Even the curves on the machine — he wanted it to feel friendly.

That obsessiveness occasionally drove his Apple co-workers crazy — but it also made them fiercely loyal, says Isaacson.

More On Steve Jobs

Remembering Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

Steve, myself, and i-: the big story of a little prefix.

New Bio Quotes Jobs On God, Gates And Great Design

Steve Jobs: How Apple's CEO Helped Transform Popular Culture

Timeline: Steve Jobs, The Man At Apple's Core

All Tech Considered

Apple's secret is in our dna.

Remembrances

Apple visionary steve jobs dies at 56.

Steve Jobs: 'Computer Science Is A Liberal Art'

"It's one of the dichotomies about Jobs: He could be demanding and tough and irate. On the other hand, he got all A-players and they became fanatically loyal to him," says Isaacson. "Why? They realized they were producing, with other A-players, truly great products for an artist who was a perfectionist — and wasn't always the kindest person when they failed — but he was rallying them to do great stuff."

He relays one story about Jobs that shows, he says, how much he was able to connect great ideas and innovations together. In the early 1980s, Jobs visited Xerox PARC, a research company in Palo Alto that had invented the laser printer, object-oriented programming and the Ethernet. Jobs noticed that the computers running at PARC all featured graphics on their desktops that allowed users to click icons and folders. This was new at the time: Most computers used text prompts and a text interface.

"Steve Jobs made an arrangement with Xerox and he took that concept [of the graphical user interface] and he improved it a hundred-fold," says Isaacson. "He made it so you could drag and drop some of the folders; he invented the pull-down menus. ... So what he was able to do was to take a conception and turn it into a reality."

That's where Jobs' genius was, Isaacson says. Jobs insisted that the software and hardware on Apple products needed to be fully integrated for the best user experience. It was not a great business model at first.

"Microsoft, which licensed itself promiscuously to all sorts of manufacturers, ends up with 90 to 95 percent all the operating system market by the beginning of 2000," says Isaacson. "But in the long run, the end-to-end integration system works very well for Apple and for Steve Jobs. Because it allows him to create devices [like the iPod and iPad] that just work beautifully with the machines."

Isaacson says working with Jobs gave him an additional insight into the design of Jobs' products.

"I see the depth of the simplicity," he says. "[I appreciate] the intuitive nature of the design, and how he would repeatedly sit there with his design engineers and his user-interface software people, and say, 'No, no no, I want to make it simpler.' I also appreciate the beauty of the parts unseen. His father taught him that the back of a fence or the back of a chest of drawers should be as beautiful as the front because [he] would know the craftsmanship that went into it. So somehow, it comes through — the depth of the beauty of the design."

Jobs was a perfectionist with a famously mercurial temperament. He was an artist and a visionary who "could be demanding and tough and irate," says Isaacson.

Interview Highlights

On what Jobs thought of the Microsoft operating system

Isaacson: "When it first came out — I can't use the words on the air — but [Jobs thought it was] clunky and not beautiful and not aesthetic. But as always is the case with Microsoft, it improves. And eventually Microsoft made a graphical operating system — Windows — and each new version got better until it was a dominating operating system."

On the rivalry between Jobs and Bill Gates

Hear Steve Jobs On Fresh Air

Listen to steve jobs' 1996 conversation with terry gross.

Isaacson: "There are all sorts of lawsuits where Apple is trying to sue Microsoft for Windows, for trying to steal the look and feel. Apple loses most of the suits but they drag on and there's even a government investigation. By the time Steve Jobs comes back to Apple in 1997, the relationship is horrible. And when we say that Jobs and Gates had a rivalry, we also have to realize they had a collaboration and a partnership. It was typical of the digital age — both rivalry and partnership."

On the relationship between Jobs and Google

Isaacson: "I think there was an unnerving historic resonance for what had happened a couple of decades earlier [with Microsoft]. Suddenly you have Google taking the operating system of the iPhone and mobile devices and all of the touch-screen technologies and building upon it, and making it an open technology that various device makers could use. ... Steve Jobs felt very possessive about all of the look, the feel, the swipes, the multitouch gestures that you use — and was driven to absolute distraction when Android's operating system, developed by Google and used by hardware manufacturers, started doing the exact same thing. ... He was furious but that probably understates his feeling. He was really furious and he let Eric Schmidt, who was then the CEO of Google, know it."

Walter Isaacson is president and CEO of The Aspen Institute. His other books include Einstein: His Life and Universe; Benjamin Franklin : An American Life , and Kissinger: A Biography .

More With Walter Isaacson

Einstein: relatively speaking, a complicated life, walter isaacson on benjamin franklin.

On Jobs' adoptive parents

Isaacson: "When Steve got placed with [parents who were not college graduates], his biological mother initially balked at first but ... the Jobs family made a pledge that they would start a college fund and make sure that Steve went to college."

On approaching Isaacson to write his biography

Isaacson: "It was 2004 and he had broached the subject of doing a biography of him and I thought, 'Well, this guy's in the midst of an up-and-down career and he has maybe 20 years to go, so I said to him, 'I'd love to do a biography of you but let's wait 20 or so years until you retire.' Then off and on after 2004, we would be in touch. ...

"I finally talked to his wife, who was very good at understanding his legacy, and she said, 'If you're going to do a book on Steve, you can't just keep saying, 'I'll do it in 20 years or so.' You really ought to do it now.' This was 2009. Steve Jobs, that year, had had a liver transplant and I realized how sick he was. ... And so, that was when I realized that this was a very fascinating tale and this guy may or may not make it. I thought he was going to live much longer. But at the very least, he was facing the prospect of his mortality so it was time for him to be reflective and do a book."

On his final meeting with Jobs

Isaacson: "He was pretty sick. He was confined to the house. And he said to me, at the end of our long conversation, 'There will be things in this book I don't like, right?' And I said, 'Yes.' Partly because you can interview people right after a meeting they've had with Steve Jobs [and] you interview five people and get five different stories about what happened. ... People have different perceptions of who he is. ...

"He said, 'I'll make you this promise. I'm not going to read the book until next year, until after it comes out.' And it made me feel a grand emotion, of 'Oh! That's great. Steve is going to be alive for another year.' Because when you're around him, the power of his thinking really grabs you. I remember leaving his house and thinking, 'Oh, I'm so relieved. He'll be alive in a year. He just told me so.' Logically, I should have said, 'He doesn't know what ups and downs he's going to have with his health.' But I think that he always felt some miracle would come along because all of his life, miracles had come along."

• Biographies, Diaries & True Accounts
• Biographies & Autobiographies

Sorry, there was a problem.

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet or computer – no Kindle device required .

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera, scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

Image Unavailable

• To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the author

STEVE JOBS (PB): THE EXCLUSIVE BIOGRAPHY [Paperback] Isaacson, Walter Paperback – 11 February 2015

Save extra with 2 offers.

• Free Delivery

7 days Replacement

• Amazon Delivered
• Pay on Delivery
• Secure transaction

Replacement Instructions

Purchase options and add-ons

• Print length 592 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Abacus
• Publication date 11 February 2015
• Dimensions 12.8 x 3.8 x 19.5 cm
• See all details

Frequently bought together

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Product description

Book description, about the author, product details.

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ 034914043X
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Abacus; 2015th edition (11 February 2015)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 592 pages
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 431 g
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.8 x 3.8 x 19.5 cm
• #50 in Biographies & Autobiographies (Books)

About the author

Walter isaacson.

Walter Isaacson is writing a biography of Elon Musk. He is the author of The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race; Leonardo da Vinci; Steve Jobs; Einstein: His Life and Universe; Benjamin Franklin: An American Life; The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution; and Kissinger: A Biography. He is also the coauthor of The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made. He is a Professor of History at Tulane, has been CEO of the Aspen Institute, chairman of CNN, and editor of Time magazine.

Related books

Customer reviews

• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 5 star 78% 15% 3% 1% 2% 78%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 4 star 78% 15% 3% 1% 2% 15%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 3 star 78% 15% 3% 1% 2% 3%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 2 star 78% 15% 3% 1% 2% 1%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 1 star 78% 15% 3% 1% 2% 2%

Customers say

Customers find the book very good, interesting, and charming. They describe the story as fascinating, relatable, and motivational. Readers praise the biography as wonderful, comprehensive, and honest. They appreciate the writing quality, design, and value for money. They mention the pacing is brisk.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Customers find the book very readable, interesting, and charming. They say it helps them get into the reading habit and is a must-read for tech-savvy people.

"After reading this book, i feel enriched. This is a very well written book ...." Read more

"This book is fantastic to read , it tells u a tale of how the computer tech evolved from being antiquated to modern tech, it also gives the insights..." Read more

"...A great book by author and a must read for anyone interested in technology, history, biography, leadership...." Read more

"...5. Overall a fantastic read , one of the best autobiographies ; Walter story telling style is fantastic" Read more

Customers find the story fascinating, relatable, and motivational. They appreciate the amazing storytelling and invaluable insights into the mind of Steve Jobs. Readers also mention the book is well-researched and beautifully wound around Jobs' story.

"...And what to say about Jobs. Imperfect guy, but perfect for me to learn from . Kinda have the same temperament and passion as him...." Read more

"...It is a practical guide of MBA on how you can build a company, their thought process, ups and downs." Read more

"...intrigued by the life of a modern-day genius, this book offers invaluable insights into the mind of Steve Jobs and the principles that guided his..." Read more

"...fantastic read , one of the best autobiographies ; Walter story telling style is fantastic " Read more

Customers find the biography wonderful, well-written, and amazing. They say it captures so much about Steve Jobs' life and is a comprehensive account of the icon's life. Readers also mention the book is lucid and perfectly narrated.

"The biography is written so well , I have become a fan of the writer and also bought his biography of Elon Musk...." Read more

"One of the most amazing biographies ever written , Steve was proud of this book and would have cried on such an accurate portrayal, thank you Walter..." Read more

"...wise this book is written in a very lucid language and has perfectly narrated Jobs life ...." Read more

"The autobiography is widely popular . The print & cover quality of the book received was good." Read more

Customers find the writing quality of the book very well-written, honest, and easy to understand. They also appreciate the simple, elegant, and beautiful format.

"...Like wise this book is written in a very lucid language and has perfectly narrated Jobs life...." Read more

" Well written Easy to follow, inspite of bombardment of information" Read more

"...The book is written in a chronological format, which is very structured and mentions all of Steve Jobs's influences, interactions and obsessions in..." Read more

"...They will continue with Innovation, Simplicity , Customer Delight, and make products that create a burning desire to own them." Read more

Customers find the design captivating, fascinating, and lucid. They say the book is presented in a perfect way. Readers also mention the book has nice pictures.

"...The writer did an excellent job of highlighting both - his ups and downs...." Read more

"...The book is Lucid , Unbiased and Captivating.I could neither find a sugary coating, nor the unwarranted criticism anywhere......" Read more

"A deeply fascinating and unflinching look into the life of a man who has impacted a billion lives...." Read more

"...all these upcoming and shortcomings of jobs are represented in a beautiful , engaging and subtle way throughout the book ...." Read more

Customers find the book worth the money, saying it's an amazing book.

"... Worth reading once even if you are not an Apple Inc. fan...." Read more

" Worth the read ...." Read more

"This is very great book and quality is really good and value for money product ." Read more

"... Total worth of time ." Read more

Customers find the pacing of the book great. They say the book gives them an opportunity to live a life like Steve Jobs. Readers also appreciate his honestly brutal leadership qualities.

"Walter Isaacson has done a marvelous job of portraying the life of Steve Jobs! What a wonderful story!..." Read more

"...This is an honest biography of a very complicated, relentless rebel & a real life genius......" Read more

"...Only thing that could have been improved upon would be its slightly repetitive in few parts & also goes too much into details on his favourite..." Read more

"...The pace is great 👍 thank you Steve Jobs and the author : Walter Isaacson for an amazing read. Thank you Amazon for bringing this book to Kindle...." Read more

Customers find the narrator's details transparent, vivid, and complete. They appreciate the great presentation of the thought process of Steve Jobs and how he emphasized simplicity. Readers also say the book is an eye-opener, candid, and revealing. They are astonished by his attention to details and perfection. They say the real-life events are lucidly narrated and the vision of Steve jobs is explained very well.

"1. Goes in detail about the genius of Steve jobs2. Transparent details with context without favouring him3...." Read more

"...of jobs are represented in a beautiful, engaging and subtle way throughout the book ...." Read more

" Revealing , bold, Spell-binding and hugely inspiring ......story has been written by the author about Steve Jobs - the Apple guy who was 'Creative..." Read more

"...Nothing to dislike as such. Well documented, descriptive and simplistic. Each chapter has a unique take...." Read more

Reviews with images

STEVE JOBS : THE EXCLUSIVE BIOGRAPHY, Really Amazed me.

• Sort reviews by Top reviews Most recent Top reviews

Top reviews from India

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. please try again later..

Top reviews from other countries

• Press Releases
• Amazon Science
• Sell on Amazon
• Sell under Amazon Accelerator
• Protect and Build Your Brand
• Amazon Global Selling
• Supply to Amazon
• Become an Affiliate
• Fulfilment by Amazon
• Advertise Your Products
• Amazon Pay on Merchants
• Your Account
• Returns Centre
• Recalls and Product Safety Alerts
• 100% Purchase Protection
• Amazon App Download

• Conditions of Use & Sale
• Privacy Notice
• Interest-Based Ads

• Biographies & Memoirs
• Professionals & Academics

Sorry, there was a problem.

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required .

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

Image Unavailable

• To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the author

Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography Kindle Edition

'This is a riveting book, with as much to say about the transformation of modern life in the information age as about its supernaturally gifted and driven subject' - Telegraph Based on more than forty interviews with Steve Jobs conducted over two years - as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues - this is the acclaimed, internationally bestselling biography of the ultimate icon of inventiveness. Walter Isaacson tells the story of the rollercoaster life and searingly intense personality of creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies,music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing. Although Jobs cooperated with this book, he asked for no control over what was written, nor even the right to read it before it was published. He put nothing off limits. He encouraged the people he knew to speak honestly. And Jobs speaks candidly, sometimes brutally so, about the people he worked with and competed against. His friends, foes, and colleagues provide an unvarnished view of the passions, perfectionism, obsessions, artistry, devilry, and compulsion for control that shaped his approach to business and the innovative products that resulted.

• Print length 568 pages
• Language English
• Sticky notes On Kindle Scribe
• Publisher Little, Brown Book Group
• Publication date October 24, 2011
• File size 7352 KB
• Page Flip Enabled
• Word Wise Enabled
• Enhanced typesetting Enabled
• See all details

Popular titles by this author

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com review.

Amazon Exclusive: A Q&A with Walter Isaacson

Q: It's becoming well known that Jobs was able to create his Reality Distortion Field when it served him. Was it difficult for you to cut through the RDF and get beneath the narrative that he created? How did you do it?

Isaacson: Andy Hertzfeld, who worked with Steve on the original Macintosh team, said that even if you were aware of his Reality Distortion Field, you still got caught up in it. But that is why Steve was so successful: He willfully bent reality so that you became convinced you could do the impossible, so you did. I never felt he was intentionally misleading me, but I did try to check every story. I did more than a hundred interviews. And he urged me not just to hear his version, but to interview as many people as possible. It was one of his many odd contradictions: He could distort reality, yet he was also brutally honest most of the time. He impressed upon me the value of honesty, rather than trying to whitewash things.

Q: How were the interviews with Jobs conducted? Did you ask lots of questions, or did he just talk?

Isaacson: I asked very few questions. We would take long walks or drives, or sit in his garden, and I would raise a topic and let him expound on it. Even during the more formal sessions in his living room, I would just sit quietly and listen. He loved to tell stories, and he would get very emotional, especially when talking about people in his life whom he admired or disdained.

Q: He was a powerful man who could hold a grudge. Was it easy to get others to talk about Jobs willingly? Were they afraid to talk?

Isaacson: Everyone was eager to talk about Steve. They all had stories to tell, and they loved to tell them. Even those who told me about his rough manner put it in the context of how inspiring he could be.

Q: Jobs embraced the counterculture and Buddhism. Yet he was a billionaire businessman with his own jet. In what way did Jobs' contradictions contribute to his success?

Isaacson: Steve was filled with contradictions. He was a counterculture rebel who became a billionaire. He eschewed material objects yet made objects of desire. He talked, at times, about how he wrestled with these contradictions. His counterculture background combined with his love of electronics and business was key to the products he created. They combined artistry and technology.

Q: Jobs could be notoriously difficult. Did you wind up liking him in the end?

Isaacson: Yes, I liked him and was inspired by him. But I knew he could be unkind and rough. These things can go together. When my book first came out, some people skimmed it quickly and cherry-picked the examples of his being rude to people. But that was only half the story. Fortunately, as people read the whole book, they saw the theme of the narrative: He could be petulant and rough, but this was driven by his passion and pursuit of perfection. He liked people to stand up to him, and he said that brutal honesty was required to be part of his team. And the teams he built became extremely loyal and inspired.

Q: Do you believe he was a genius?

Isaacson: He was a genius at connecting art to technology, of making leaps based on intuition and imagination. He knew how to make emotional connections with those around him and with his customers.

Q: Did he have regrets?

Isaacson: He had some regrets, which he expressed in his interviews. For example, he said that he did not handle well the pregnancy of his first girlfriend. But he was deeply satisfied by the creativity he ingrained at Apple and the loyalty of both his close colleagues and his family.

Q: What do you think is his legacy?

Isaacson: His legacy is transforming seven industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, digital publishing, and retail stores. His legacy is creating what became the most valuable company on earth, one that stood at the intersection of the humanities and technology, and is the company most likely still to be doing that a generation from now. His legacy, as he said in his "Think Different" ad, was reminding us that the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.

Photo credit: Patrice Gilbert Photography

About the Author

Excerpt. © reprinted by permission. all rights reserved., product details.

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B005J3IEZQ
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Little, Brown Book Group; 8th edition (October 24, 2011)
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 24, 2011
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• File size ‏ : ‎ 7352 KB
• Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
• Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 568 pages
• #724 in Biographies of Business & Industrial Professionals
• #3,213 in Biographies & Memoirs (Kindle Store)

About the author

Walter isaacson.

Walter Isaacson is writing a biography of Elon Musk. He is the author of The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race; Leonardo da Vinci; Steve Jobs; Einstein: His Life and Universe; Benjamin Franklin: An American Life; The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution; and Kissinger: A Biography. He is also the coauthor of The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made. He is a Professor of History at Tulane, has been CEO of the Aspen Institute, chairman of CNN, and editor of Time magazine.

Customer reviews

• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 5 star 78% 16% 4% 1% 1% 78%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 4 star 78% 16% 4% 1% 1% 16%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 3 star 78% 16% 4% 1% 1% 4%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 2 star 78% 16% 4% 1% 1% 1%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 1 star 78% 16% 4% 1% 1% 1%

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

Customers say

Customers find the book engrossing, fascinating, and full of stories and anecdotes. They say it's informative, objective, and a great case study. Readers describe the writing quality as beautiful, simple, and easy to follow. They describe the biography as rich, telling, and personal. They also find the storytelling compelling, exciting, and entertaining. Reader also praise the author's writing style.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Customers find the book marvelously engrossing, fascinating, and the best they have ever read. They say it's full of stories and anecdotes that are well-chronologized. Readers also mention the book provides a journey of discovery, recounting the facts in lucid prose.

"...I Jove it when you can bring really great design and simple capability to something that doesn't cost much," he said as he pointed out the clean..." Read more

"...It's a story worth reading . If for nothing else, read it to understand what it took to create the device on which you're reading this very review." Read more

"...of it - until the last few chapters - was very well written and interesting ...." Read more

"Book review by Richard L. Weaver II, Ph.D.This is a fascinating , if not riveting, story that is not only well-written and well-..." Read more

Customers find the book very informative, brilliant, and fascinating. They say it's objective and critical. Readers also mention the book offers a great case study of three companies.

"... Intuition is a very powerful thing , more powerful than intellect, in my opinion. That's had a big impact on my work."..." Read more

"...The book offers a great case study of three companies: Apple, NeXT and Pixar...." Read more

"...more in the last few chapters, but most of the book seemed to be very objective , even critical...." Read more

"...bright, imaginative, creative, intelligent, educated, and knowledgeable , but the way he treated others, the way he thought about others who were not..." Read more

Customers find the book easy to read, well-written, and easy to follow. They say it's accessible and doesn't overtly mention technical in nature. Readers appreciate the carefully chosen and crafted words. They also say the book creates an unprecedented user experience.

"...but even so, most of it - until the last few chapters - was very well written and interesting...." Read more

"...This is a fascinating, if not riveting, story that is not only well-written and well-constructed (organized in a chronological manner), but it is..." Read more

"...Steve Jobs" was a riveting, fast and easy read , utterly fascinating because Jobs' life, accomplishments and personality was so...." Read more

Customers find the biography rich and telling. They say it's personal, introspective, and charismatic. Readers also mention the book is a vivid reminder of God's common grace.

"...Most importantly, this is a very personal book ...." Read more

"...This biography was an excellent read and a must for anyone interested in Silicon Valley, Steve Jobs himself, or the creation of one of technologies..." Read more

"...The biography is filled with interesting tidbits and should be at the top of everyone's reading list...." Read more

"...She crafted what I consider to be the perfect, visceral, and emotional post-script to the Isaacson biography. It will bring you to tears...." Read more

Customers find the storytelling compelling, exciting, entertaining, and gripping. They say the book allows them to look into an incredible life. Readers also mention they are informed or entertained effortlessly.

"...This book didn't disappoint. It was both captivating , and offered meaningful insight into Steve Jobs and the history of Apple...." Read more

"...had no control over the product (other than the cover design), it is a compelling , but not always flattering bio of a mercurial and important..." Read more

"...Steve Jobs" was a riveting , fast and easy read, utterly fascinating because Jobs' life, accomplishments and personality was so...." Read more

"...much for reading biographies, but this one is compelling, even exciting . As I write this review, it has been only 45 days since Steve Jobs died...." Read more

Customers find the author's writing style compelling, frank, and nice. They say the biography is highly readable and the narration of the author is clear. Readers also mention the book is an extraordinary biography of a creative genius.

"...Sure, he was incredibly bright, imaginative, creative , intelligent, educated, and knowledgeable, but the way he treated others, the way he thought..." Read more

"...Walter Issacson's biography is highly readable and very compelling...." Read more

"...(friends, foes, lovers, rivals, you name it), he has created a remarkably personal portrait -- one that brought me to tears on more occasions than I..." Read more

"...relentless intensity drove him furiously toward creating elegant, unique products that were simple to use and had the customer in mind...." Read more

Customers find the book honest, real, and authentic. They say the author makes it realistic, not hiding anything. Readers also appreciate the nice combination of feeling and facts. They mention the stories, reflections, and interviews are genuine. Overall, they say the book provides a compelling but realistic view of one of the greatest innovators of our time.

"...It is an honest , complete, and intimate conclusion that accurately and completely draws together many of the comments, reactions, and..." Read more

"...I was impressed by the candidness of the interviews ...." Read more

"...She crafted what I consider to be the perfect, visceral , and emotional post-script to the Isaacson biography. It will bring you to tears...." Read more

"...It is an incredible book, one that feels very honest overall . Of course there is a bias, but it is minimal...." Read more

Customers have mixed opinions about the pacing of the book. Some mention it's beguiling, eccentric, and cringe-worthy. Others say it has some noticeable flaws, is not always flattering, and the language is flat and dull.

"...churning details how Steve Jobs was a disloyal, lying, backstabbing, vindictive , manipulative, vengeful, and all-around vile and damaged human being...." Read more

"...Instead, he was a genius. His imaginative leaps were instinctive, unexpected , and at times magical...." Read more

"...The last segment of the book - Apple II - I found to be rather dry , with a sort of hurried, factual quality to it..." Read more

"...express himself at the end was a beautiful, warm, and touching way to conclude the book . Just as Jobs was a true genius (very few measure up!),..." Read more

Reviews with images

• Sort reviews by Top reviews Most recent Top reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. please try again later..

Top reviews from other countries

Report an issue

• About Amazon
• Investor Relations
• Amazon Devices
• Amazon Science
• Sell products on Amazon
• Sell on Amazon Business
• Sell apps on Amazon
• Become an Affiliate
• Advertise Your Products
• Self-Publish with Us
• Host an Amazon Hub
• › See More Make Money with Us
• Amazon Business Card
• Shop with Points
• Reload Your Balance
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Amazon and COVID-19
• Your Account
• Your Orders
• Shipping Rates & Policies
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices

• Conditions of Use
• Privacy Notice
• Consumer Health Data Privacy Disclosure
• Your Ads Privacy Choices