iSteve, official Steve Jobs biography coming in 2012

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple

There are many unauthorized biographies of Steve Jobs and even a TV movie (below), but the Apple chief has agreed to team up with Walter Isaacson for an authorized biography that will hit bookstores (and presumably, iBooks) next year.

Simon & Schuster will publish the book, humbly titled "iSteve: The Book of Jobs," in early 2012, the publisher said in a Sunday statement. It will draw from three years of "exclusive and unprecedented" interviews Isaacson has conducted with Jobs. Isaacson has also interviewed Jobs's family members, colleagues, and Apple competitors.

"This is the perfect match of subject and author, and it is certain to be a landmark book about one of the world's greatest innovators," Jonathan Karp, publisher of Simon & Schuster, said in a statement. "Just as he did with Einstein and Benjamin Franklin, Walter Isaacson is telling a unique story of revolutionary genius."

The news was first reported by the AP.

Jobs will not be Isaacson's first foray into biographies. He has penned the life stories of Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, and Henry Kissinger, among others.

Isaacson will certainly not be at a loss for material - from Apple's humble beginnings, Jobs's ousting from his own company in the early 80s, his triumphant return more than a decade later, his notoriously prickly management style, and his struggle with various health issues will likely be featured prominently in the pages of "iSteve."

Jobs is currently on a medical leave of absence from Apple. He made an appearance at the company's iPad 2 event, but no word on if he will be at its Worldwide Developer Conference in June.

A search for "Steve Jobs" on Amazon, meanwhile, produces a number of unauthorized looks at the Apple chief's life, from "The Steve Jobs Way: iLeadership for a New Generation" to the controversial "iCon Steve Jobs: The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business."

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This article, written by Chloe Albanesius, originally appeared on PCMag.com and is republished on Gear Live with the permission of Ziff Davis, Inc.