Apple Leaders Rally Behind New Bio Of Steve Jobs

Becoming Steve Jobs, an unauthorized biography that will be released tomorrow, has not only been garnering headlines for aFast Company excerpt and selected leaks but also is being positioned as a more accurate — and sympathetic — portrayal of the Apple founder than the one in Steve Jobs, the authorized and bestselling biography by Walter Isaacson. 

The new book, written by Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli and published by Crown Business, carries the subhed The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader. Schlender “covered Steve Jobs intimately for over 25 years, and knew him better than any other journalist,” according to his bio for the book. Tetzeli is executive editor of Fast Company — hence the beat on the excerpt. Another sample is available on iBooks. 

Citing provocative recent quotes from current Apple CEO Tim Cook, design chief Jony Ive and software and Internet chief Eddy Cue, Brian X. Chen and Alexandra Alter point out in the New York Times that the “the book-on-book criticism is a rare public cavalcade from Apple executives, who under Mr. Jobs kept quiet about the company’s activities. It shows the lengths that Apple is going in its effort to reshape the posthumous image of Mr. Jobs as a kinder spirit, rather than a one-dimensional mercurial and brash chief.” 

Isaacson conducted more than 40 interviews with Jobs, who hand-picked him to write the book, as well as speaking with “more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues,” according to the promotional copy. The resulting efforts, first published in hardcover by Simon  & Schuster in 2011 and since distributed in 34 formats and editions by Amazon’s tally, has garnered 4.5 out of 5 stars from more than 4,000 reviewers on the site.