Isaacson introduces the book by explaining that Jobs had called him in 2004, asking him to write his biography, a task that felt premature for Isaacson at the time considering his career trajectory and track record of oscillation between success and failure. However, after Jobs became sick with cancer for the second time, Isaacson finally accepted the assignment. Based on more than 40 interviews and conversations over a period of two years, Isaacson hoped to write a book that would capture the essence of Jobs’s life, “filled with lessons about innovation, character, leadership, and values” (xxi).

Isaacson contrasts the stories of two sets of parents: Jobs’s birth parents, Joanne Schieble and Abdulfattah Jandali, who gave him up for adoption, and Clara and Paul Jobs, the adoptive parents who raised him. Joanne and Abdulfattah were not married at the time, largely because Joanne’s father strongly disapproved of their relationship. When Joanne became pregnant, the only feasible option was to arrange for a closed adoption, with the caveat that the adoptive parents must be college graduates.

While Clara and Paul were not college graduates, they were hard workers who were invested in providing the best life possible for their adopted son.