Erik's Reviews > Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs is a fascinating person, and his well-chronicled life is an equally fascinating tale. This book covers it all, from his beginnings as an adopted child to the founding of Apple with Steve Wozniak, to being fired as CEO, to the founding of NEXT and Pixar, and finally to his glorious comeback to Apple. His sad and entirely preventable death from a treatable form of pancreatic cancer is also covered, all the way until the end.

Jobs come off as a contradiction. He's both brilliant and idiotic, compassionate and cruel, wise yet foolish. The book isn't a hagiography; it praises Steve's successes but isn't shy about sharing facts that paint him in a less than flattering light.

While author Walter Isaacson is an accomplished wordsmith, he lacks the technical sophistication to separate truth from Steve's famous reality distortion field when technology is discussed. However, his unparalleled access to the subject himself offers much candid insight, although it should still be read skeptically, considering Jobs' lifelong casual relationship with the truth.