Chrisann Brennan

Teenaged lovers Steve Jobs and Chrisann Brennan lived in California and as this book depicts, they embraced a hippie lifestyle. No meat (muscle), lots of living on the edge (some could say mooching off others), attending growth groups, finding "meaning" in The Primal Scream by Arthur Janov, and talking the far out lingo of life as they knew it.

This type of life may have been fine for teens, but all too soon, actually growing up and realizing that daisy flowers worn one day, all too soon wilt in the scorching rays of reality. Living on the edge when you are mid twenties with a baby to raise, is a totally different experience than singing Bob Dylan songs and absorbing his words as a poetic way to fedel groovy. And, the all the way out life style could not pay the rent, or the food, or clothing for baby Lisa, named by Steve and Chrisann, when the she was approximately one week old as they sat in a field.

Chrisann and baby Lisa were soon abandoned by the Infamous Steve Jobs. And, when the California welfare agency demanded a blood test, it was proven that, despite Steve's loud protestations, the baby was indeed his. And, thus, Steve worked out a deal, in fact, a measly deal of payments barely enough to eek out a living.

Timed so that Chrisann signed the agreement the day before Apple became public, thus rendering Steve Jobs a mega millionaire, while his daughter and former girlfriend hardly survived. Supposedly, he and his work mates celebrated this staggering deceit.

The culture of Apple, Inc. is painted as a selfish bunch of wizards who were indeed sociopathic, narsisisstic, cruel beings. Supposedly, while Steve bought a brand new car whenever a scratch was found, by the time Lisa was nine, and she naively asked for one of his cars, he nastily told her "You get nothing!" "Do you understand, NOTHING!"

This book was difficult to read, not only because of Steve Jobs incredible lack of social skills, and lack of ability to dain to comprehend those outside of his God-like image of himself, but Chrisann truly was not as together as she painted herself to be. She did say she wasn't prepared for parenthood and thought of giving the baby up for adoption, but in the end simply couldn't do this. Instead, she kept the baby while begging Jobs to find meaning in his life via the daughter he procreated.

I finished reading the book, but midway grew very tired of Chrisann's self absorption and never ending tales of her marvelous spiritual insights of those who came into her radar. Weary of her non-stop artsy way of expressing her life and her soul, in the end I didn't feel sorry for her. It was baby Lisa who was left to find solid ground when all around was sinking sand.… (altro)