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Wednesday, July 7, 2021

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson; review by Amogh Joshi

 Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

This is one of the rare novels that, in my opinion, deserves the golden 10/10. A

brilliantly executed biography by Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs captures the life of

the Apple CEO in astonishing detail, from small tidbits that hold almost no

relevance to his career and yet help portray his character perfectly, to events in

history researched in great depth to help paint a picture as if the reader were

actually standing in the moment. To top it all off, Isaacson still manages to

conduct it in a story-like fashion, as if the novel was being narrated by Jobs’

conscience. He includes not only positive and negative views about Jobs from

Jobs himself, but how others saw him, how they loved him, how they hated him,

and his impact on the world entirely.

As it was by Jobs’ personal request, this is the most detailed biography of Steve

Jobs. Aside from Isaacson’s ability to gain personal information from Jobs

through numerous interviews, he also garnered past quotes as well as scheduled

meetings with important people in Jobs’ past to gain a full understanding of what

it was like around the man, both from his perspective and from outside. This was

personally what made this novel unique, in my opinion, because it’s rare in a

biography to be able to paint such a detailed and yet complete picture of a

person.

Another thing that stood out was the emotion in this biography. It is an often

misconception that biographies are just bundled up stacks of facts about a

person. This is NOT true. Steve Jobs is a perfect example of that. The reader

really feels what is happening, feels the emotion, understands what Jobs was

going through. When he got kicked out of his own company, you could feel the

irritation, the anger. When he died, you could truly feel the sadness. It’s not often

a non-fiction book can draw you in and make you feel emotion, but this most

certainly did.

I would recommend this for just about anyone. However, it is a big read, and you

will get drawn in quickly, so find a time where you can read it interrupted. One of

the best biographies out there!


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