''Steve Jobs'' is the authorized self-titled

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

of American business magnate and

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

co-founder Steve Jobs. The book was written at the request of Jobs by

Walter Isaacson Walter Seff Isaacson (born May 20, 1952) is an American author, journalist, and professor. He has been the President and CEO of the Aspen Institute, a nonpartisan policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C., the chair and CEO of CNN, ...

, a former executive at

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

and ''

TIME Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' who had previously written best-selling biographies of

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

and

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

. Based on more than forty interviews with Jobs conducted over two years—in addition to interviews with more than one hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Isaacson was given "unprecedented" access to Jobs's life. Jobs is said to have encouraged the people interviewed to speak honestly. Although Jobs cooperated with the book, he asked for no control over its content other than the book's cover, and waived the right to read it before it was published. Describing his writing, Issacson commented that he had striven to take a balanced view of his subject that did not sugarcoat Jobs's flaws. The book was released on October 24, 2011, by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...

in the United States, 19 days after Jobs's death. A film adaptation written by

Aaron Sorkin Aaron Benjamin Sorkin (born June 9, 1961) is an American playwright, screenwriter and film director. Born in New York City, he developed a passion for writing at an early age. Sorkin has earned an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, five Primetime ...

and directed by

Danny Boyle Daniel Francis Boyle (born 20 October 1956) is an English director and producer. He is known for his work on films including '' Shallow Grave'', '' Trainspotting'' and its sequel '' T2 Trainspotting'', '' The Beach'', ''28 Days Later'', '' S ...

, with Michael Fassbender starring in the title role, was released on October 9, 2015.

Appearance

Front cover

The front cover uses a photo of Steve Jobs commissioned by '' Fortune'' magazine in 2006 for a portfolio of powerful people. The photograph was taken by Albert Watson. When the photograph was taken, he said he insisted on having a three-hour period to set up his equipment, adding that he wanted to make " very shootas greased lightning fast as possible for the ubject" When Jobs arrived he didn't immediately look at Watson, but instead at the equipment, focusing on Watson's 4×5 camera before saying, "wow, you're shooting film." Jobs gave Watson an hour—longer than he had given most photographers for a portrait session. Watson reportedly instructed Jobs to make "95 percent, almost 100 percent of eye contact with the camera," and to "think about the next project you have on the table," in addition to thinking about instances when people have challenged him. The title font is

Helvetica Helvetica (originally Neue Haas Grotesk) is a widely used sans-serif typeface developed in 1957 by Swiss typeface designer Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann. Helvetica is a neo-grotesque design, one influenced by the famous 19th century (1890s) ...

Back cover

The back cover uses another photographic portrait of Jobs taken in his

living room In Western architecture, a living room, also called a lounge room (Australian English), lounge (British English), sitting room (British English), or drawing room, is a room for relaxing and socializing in a residential house or apartment. Su ...

in Woodside,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

in February 1984 by

Norman Seeff Norman Seeff (born March 5, 1939, in Johannesburg, South Africa) is a photographer and filmmaker. Since moving to the United States in 1969, his work has been focused on the exploration of human creativity and the inner dynamics of the creative ...

. In a ''Behind the Cover'' article published by ''

'' magazine, Seeff recalls him and Jobs "just sitting" on his living room floor, talking about "creativity and everyday stuff," when Jobs left the room and returned with a Macintosh 128K (the original Macintosh computer). Jobs " loppeddown" in the lotus position holding the computer in his lap when Seeff took the photograph.

Title

The book's

working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...

, ''iSteve: The Book of Jobs'', was chosen by publisher

's publicity department. Although author

was "never quite sure about it", his wife and daughter reportedly were. However, they thought it was "too cutesy" and as a result Isaacson persuaded the publisher to change the title to something "simpler and more elegant." The title ''Steve Jobs'' was allegedly chosen to reflect Jobs's "minimalist" style and to emphasize the biography's authenticity, further differentiating it from unauthorized publications, such as '' iCon Steve Jobs: The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business'' by Jeffrey Young.

Chapters

Many of the chapters within the book have sub-headings, which are matched in various audiobook versions resulting in listings showing 150+ chapters when there are only 42 chapters. The audiobook contains a mistake on one chapter title, listing Chapter 41 as "Round Three, A Never-ending Struggle" instead of "Round Three, Twilight Struggle" as published.

Reception

Janet Maslin's review of the book for ''The New York Times'' mixed mild criticisms with praise. Maslin wrote that Isaacson's biography presented "an encyclopedic survey of all that Mr. Jobs accomplished, replete with the passion and excitement that it deserves." A number of Steve Jobs's family and close colleagues expressed disapproval, including

Laurene Powell Jobs Laurene Powell Jobs ( Powell; born November 6, 1963)United States birth records is an American billionaire businesswoman and executive. She is the founder and chair of Emerson Collective and XQ Institute. Powell Jobs resides in Palo Alto, Calif ...

Tim Cook Timothy Donald Cook (born November 1, 1960) is an American business executive who has been the chief executive officer of Apple Inc. since 2011. Cook previously served as the company's chief operating officer under its co-founder Steve Jobs ...

and Jony Ive. Cook remarked that the biography did Jobs “a tremendous disservice", and that "it didn’t capture the person. The person I read about there is somebody I would never have wanted to work with over all this time.” Ive said of the book that “my contempt couldn’t be lower.” Commercially, the biography was a notable success, selling more than three million copies in the United States alone by 2015.

Film adaptation

''Steve Jobs'' is a

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

film based on the life of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, starring Michael Fassbender in the title role. The film is directed by

, produced by

Scott Rudin Scott Rudin (born July 14, 1958) is an American film, television, and theatre producer. His films include the Academy Award-winning Best Picture ''No Country for Old Men,'' as well as '' Uncut Gems'', '' Lady Bird, Fences, The Girl with the Drag ...

, and written by

(with a screenplay adapted both from Isaacson's ''Steve Jobs'' as well as from interviews conducted by Sorkin).

Other media

Extracts from the biography have been the feature of various magazines, in addition to interviews with the author,

. To memorialize Jobs's life after his death on October 5, 2011, ''

'' published a commemorative issue on October 8, 2011. The issue's cover featured a portrait of Jobs, taken by

, in which he is sitting in the lotus position holding the original Macintosh computer. The portrait was published in ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' in January 1984 and is featured on the back cover of ''Steve Jobs''. The issue marked the eighth time Jobs has been featured on the cover of ''Time''. The issue included a photographic essay by Diana Walker, a retrospective on

Harry McCracken Harry McCracken is technology editor for ''Fast Company'' and the founder of Technologizer, a website about personal technology. He was an editor at large for ''Time'', covering technology, from February 2012 to June 2014. McCracken is also a for ...

and

Lev Grossman Lev Grossman (born June 26, 1969) is an American novelist and journalist who wrote ''The Magicians Trilogy'': '' The Magicians'' (2009), ''The Magician King'' (2011), and ''The Magician's Land'' (2014). He was the book critic and lead technology ...

, and a six-page essay by Walter Isaacson. Isaacson's essay served as a preview of ''Steve Jobs'' and described Jobs pitching the book to him. ''

Bloomberg Businessweek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...

'' also released a commemorative issue of its magazine remembering the life of Jobs. The cover of the magazine features Apple-like simplicity, with a black-and-white, up-close photo of Jobs and his years of birth and death. In tribute to Jobs's minimalist style, the issue was published without advertisements. It featured extensive essays by Steve Jurvetson,

John Sculley John Sculley III (born April 6, 1939) is an American businessman, entrepreneur and investor in high-tech startups. Sculley was vice-president (1970–1977) and president of PepsiCo (1977–1983), until he became chief executive officer (CEO) ...

, Sean Wisely,

William Gibson William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as ''cyberpunk''. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, hi ...

, and Walter Isaacson. Similarly to ''Time'''s commemorative issue, Isaacson's essay served as a preview of ''Steve Jobs''. '' Fortune'' featured an exclusive extract of the biography on October 24, 2011, focusing on the "friend-enemy" relationship Jobs had with

Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...

Awards and honors

Even after a late release that year, the book became Amazon's #1 seller for 2011. * 2012 ''Financial Times'' and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award, shortlist * 2011 ''The New York Times'' bestseller * 2011 ''Christian Science Monitor'' Best Book, nonfiction * 2011 ''Time'' Magazine's Best Books of the Year

References

External links

Presentation by Isaacson on ''Steve Jobs'', December 13, 2011
C-SPAN
Presentation by Isaacson on ''Steve Jobs'', September 22, 2012
C-SPAN {{DEFAULTSORT:Steve Jobs 2011 non-fiction books American history books Books about Steve Jobs Biographies adapted into films English-language books Simon & Schuster books American biographies