Kathy's Reviews > Steve Jobs

I can't say enough about this book.

First, there's no question that Steve Jobs was a difficult person but also unquestionably forward-thinking. Sometimes brilliant people have a really hard time understanding the rest of us who are more grounded in the mundane things of everyday life. As I read through the first 1/3 of the book I really didn't like him at all but I couldn't put the book down; and suddenly I realized that he had begun to grow on me. I wanted to cheer for his successes, and those of his Apple team, and his mercurial, heavy-handed manner was no longer shocking but just part of his personality that I could accept as flawed, just as mine is flawed.

Which leads to point #2: Walter Isaacson's work in telling the story of Steve Jobs (and therefore Apple) is phenomenal. He made me appreciate the man and his philosophies. Somehow the style of writing reflected the progression of Jobs' life to the extent that it seemed to move at the same pace, rushing ahead through the tidal wave of technological innovation, coasting as his health began to fail, and coming to a smooth and quiet end.

When I am consumed by a book, I tend to think in a different way. When I read Charles Dickens, I have to bring myself back to the 21st century USA. This book, because of Steve Jobs the forward-thinker who refused to believe in "can't be done", and Walter Isaacson, who artfully wove the philosophy of "do the impossible" into the story, ultimately had me thinking in the same way.