Highly anticipated 'Becoming Steve Jobs' biography now available

Posted:
in General Discussion edited March 2015
The hotly anticipated biography "Becoming Steve Jobs" debuted on Tuesday to set the record straight on Apple's cofounder and upon launch rocketed to the No. 1 spot on Amazon's Rich & Famous Biographies list.




Co-authored by longtime tech journalist Brent Schlender and Fast Company executive editor Rick Tetzeli, "Becoming Steve Jobs" is an intimate look into the life of Apple's cofounder, one that looks to dispel common myths about who he was and how he lived. Much of the book comes from Schlender's personal notes, a bulk of which were not suitable for publishing while Jobs was still alive.

A number of revelations have already been shared through "leaks" and early previews, including the fact that current Apple CEO Tim Cook once offered Jobs part of his liver in hopes of saving the ailing tech guru's life. Jobs adamantly refused.

Other topics include Jobs' final years and the legacy he left at Apple.

The book is peppered with interviews from top-ranking executives like Cook, who agreed to be part of the biography due to Schlender's longtime connection with Jobs (Jobs used to introduce Schlender as his friend) and a compulsion to influence their former chief's public image. For example, Cook calls Walter Isaacson's official biography, which came out in 2011, a "tremendous disservice."

"We decided to participate in Brent and Rick's book because of Brent's long relationship with Steve, which gave him a unique perspective on Steve's life. The book captures Steve better than anything else we've seen, and we are happy we decided to participate," Apple representative Steve Dowling said.

"Becoming Steve Jobs" is available for for $11.99 on Kindle or $19.83 on hardback through Amazon.com and $12.99 on the iBookstore.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 21
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member
    Almost finished it.

    (Advantages of living in Australia and, hence, your future, time-wise)
  • Reply 2 of 21
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post



    ... and upon launch rocketed to the No. 1 spot on Amazon's Rich & Famous Biographies list.

    eclipsing other best sellers such as Candice Bergen's and Willie Nelson's biographies.

  • Reply 3 of 21
    solipsismysolipsismy Posts: 5,099member
    I bought the hardcover, but won't read it until my vacation in mid-April. This will be the first book about Steve Jobs I've wanted to read.
  • Reply 4 of 21
    solipsismy wrote: »
    I bought the hardcover, but won't read it until my vacation in mid-April. This will be the first book about Steve Jobs Ive wanted to read.

    It may well be the first book about Steve Jobs that Ive wanted to read, but is it the first book about Steve Jobs that you wanted to read?

    I guess well never know.
  • Reply 5 of 21
    boredumbboredumb Posts: 1,418member
    oops, never mind...


    I'll be reading it, too, but not soon - looking forward to the impressions of others here there, though.


     


    ...and GTR, get out of my future!
  • Reply 6 of 21
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member
    boredumb wrote: »

    I've finished it, so now it's time to wreck it for everybody else:

    He dies at the end.

    ????

    I'm hearing this book has been so popular that a sequel has been planned: The Return (Again) of Steve Jobs.
  • Reply 7 of 21
    gtr wrote: »
    boredumb wrote: »

    I've finished it, so now it's time to wreck it for everybody else:

    He dies at the end.

    ????

    I'm hearing this book has been so popular that a sequel has been planned: The Return (Again) of Steve Jobs.

    We've had Steve Jobs (WI).

    This one sounds like Steve Jobs Strikes Back.

    So yes, your suggestion sounds apt.
  • Reply 8 of 21
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismY View Post



    I bought the hardcover, but won't read it until my vacation in mid-April. This will be the first book about Steve Jobs Ive wanted to read.

    Me too -- just ordered the hardcover. And it'll be my recuperative reading from some surgery planned for late April. (Nothing serious).

     

    Of course, I've got to stop reading tech blogs altogether between now and then....

     

    (Add: I am sure it's the first book about SJ that Ive wanted to read! ;))

  • Reply 9 of 21
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    I always felt Apple didn't go after Nest because of Tony Fadell and one excerpt from this book seems to confirm that. I don't think the current executive team is that fond of Fadell but I haven't read enough of the book to find out why yet.
  • Reply 10 of 21
    paxmanpaxman Posts: 4,729member
    Me too -- just ordered the hardcover. And it'll be my recuperative reading from some surgery planned for late April. (Nothing serious).

    Of course, I've got to stop reading tech blogs altogether between now and then....

    (Add: I am sure it's the first book about SJ that Ive wanted to read! ;))
    I read the Isaacson one and enjoyed it in spite of its shortcomings. I just bought the iBooks version of Becoming Steve Jobs and will read it on my iPhone & iPad. So far it looks great. It definitely seem more connected and relevant from a storytelling pov. Isaacson may be a great writer but there was no sense he was anything but an observer. He never truly experienced the essence of SJ and that comes across in the book. Perhaps the best way to learn about Apple and Steve Jobs - at least the early days - is here: http://www.folklore.org. Some great stories by the folks who worked with Steve at Apple.
  • Reply 11 of 21
    paxmanpaxman Posts: 4,729member
    Why does the headline on the AI front page use the Isaacson cover img as the story thumbnail? Odd.
  • Reply 12 of 21

    Yep, pre-ordered it. Scheduled for delivery tomorrow.

     

    I've got a stack of books to read but this will go to the top and probably be done by the weekend! :)

     

     

    Best.

  • Reply 13 of 21
    solipsismysolipsismy Posts: 5,099member
    Of course, I've got to stop reading tech blogs altogether between now and then....

    I'm purposely going on a cruise so I can detach.
  • Reply 14 of 21

    Started reading it last night and already 50 or 60 pages in IMO its so much better than the Isaacson book, which I didn't care for in the least. Enjoy!

  • Reply 15 of 21
    The best biography of Steve Jobs is Eve%u2019s Hungry, where he is a ninja action hero:

    http://eveshungry.blogspot.com
  • Reply 16 of 21

    I used a credit and got a free audio-book copy of it on Audible. I will still buy the hardback. Audio-Books don't really appeal to me much. The voice kills any imagination, which makes reading a book fun.

     

    Either that, or I love the sound of my own mental reading!

  • Reply 17 of 21
    solipsismysolipsismy Posts: 5,099member
    I used a credit and got a free audio-book copy of it on Audible. I will still buy the hardback. Audio-Books don't really appeal to me much. The voice kills any imagination, which makes reading a book fun.

    Either that, or I love the sound of my own mental reading!

    I'm the opposite. I don't seem to have the time to sit down to read so I like audiobooks because I listen to them whilst driving, which I do a lot. The areas of the brain for driving and processing spoken word don't seem to interfere with each other.
  • Reply 18 of 21
    solipsismy wrote: »
    I used a credit and got a free audio-book copy of it on Audible. I will still buy the hardback. Audio-Books don't really appeal to me much. The voice kills any imagination, which makes reading a book fun.

    Either that, or I love the sound of my own mental reading!

    I'm the opposite. I don't seem to have the time to sit down to read so I like audiobooks because I listen to them whilst driving, which I do a lot. The areas of the brain for driving and processing spoken word don't seem to interfere with each other.

    You don't have children, I see.
  • Reply 19 of 21
    vuduvudu Posts: 28member
    Seriously?
    Even a book about Steve Jobs costs a buck more in iBooks than it does on Amazon?

    Jobs was an interesting guy, a successful guy.
    The cult of celebrity however, demands that he be placed upon a pedestal.
  • Reply 20 of 21
    solipsismysolipsismy Posts: 5,099member
    vudu wrote: »
    Seriously? Even a book about Steve Jobs costs a buck more in iBooks than it does on Amazon?

    The DoJ will want to hear about that.
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