Steve Jobs OKed Bio So His Kids Could 'Know Him'

'Steve Jobs ': impressive, considering it was released in October

(NEWSER) - Though it came out in late October, Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson has already reached the top of Amazon's best-seller list, and is now the best-selling book of the year, MacRumors reports. Amazon had predicted the authorized biography would lead the list. It reached No. 13 soon after its debut and was at No. 2 by mid-November. In related news, MacRumors notes that George Clooney or Noah Wyle could portray Jobs in the movie version; Aaron Sorkin is considering writing the screenplay . More»

...though Dean Ornish did advise him to have it immediately

(NEWSER) - There’s been a lot of Monday-morning quarterbacking over Steve Jobs’ seemingly less-than-genius decision to put off cancer surgery and try a vegan diet and various alternative medicines instead. By the time Jobs finally had the surgery, the cancer had spread to his liver, and he told his biographer he regretted waiting . But Jobs’ friend and doctor Dean Ornish tells the New York Times that he thinks Jobs made a reasonable, informed decision—even though Ornish himself advocated immediate surgery. More»

Biography zeroes in on contradiction

(NEWSER) - One thing the new Steve Jobs biography has done has tempered the saint-like portrait of him that emerged in the days after his death. Maureen Dowd in the New York Times and Farhad Manjoo in Slate focus on this part of Jobs' personality, the one through which he could be a cruel jerk to subordinates, friends, lovers, and family. "Certainly, Jobs created what Shakespeare called 'the brightest heaven of invention,'" writes Dowd. "But his life sounded like the darkest hell of volatility." More»

Jobs complained to Murdoch about channel, supported New York Times

(NEWSER) - Steve Jobs told Rupert Murdoch to his face last year that Fox News is "destructive" and that he was "blowing it" with the conservative news channel, reports Gawker , in the latest round of excerpts from Walter Isaacson's biography of the Apple founder . Jobs was invited to speak at the annual News Corp management retreat in 2010, and in exchange for talking he got to speak directly with Murdoch. "Fox has become a destructive force in our society," Jobs told Murdoch over dinner. "You can be better, and this is going to be your legacy if you're not careful." Murdoch, for his part, seemed unconcerned by the criticism from Jobs' "left-wing view." More»

'Social Network' writer said to be considering the offer

(NEWSER) - Sony is making a Steve Jobs movie based on the biography by Walter Isaacson, and none other than Social Network scribe Aaron Sorkin is being courted to write it, the Los Angeles Times reports. A source says Sorkin is considering the idea, but neither Sorkin nor Sony gave an official comment. Still, it seems like a good fit:

• LA Times : “Sorkin is known for penning stories about the lives of fiercely smart, if difficult, figures, of which Jobs certainly was one. Isaacson's take on the late executive as someone whose penchant for ‘magical thinking’ was both a great advantage and a fatal liability seems particularly suited to a Sorkin script.”