Walter Isaacson

Great googly-moogly does this man have a favourite child!

There are times when Elon’s side of the story invokes some genuine empathy, especially about his family. Other times the book comes off as a desperate attempt to recover pieces of a crumbling public image.

Most times, he just comes off as an arse.

The author does a great job of folding in a bit of every Musk production, from Paypal to Neuralink. The Boring Company was scarcely mentioned, which makes me wonder if ol’ Musky is still a bit tender on the topic. Tesla is also handled very delicately since he’s in deep legal shenanigans with shareholders even as I write this review. SpaceX represents a large proportion of Musk’s professional recollections, and his many romantic dramas take up much of the personal.

Isaacson’s biography cuts shockingly close to the present day, making it a surprisingly illuminating glance into the Twitter takeover. I found myself pausing frequently to compare the book’s recollection of events with journalists’ articles. As you probably suspect, there are discrepancies.

Intentional or not, the most interesting part of the book is watching Musk slowly slide from an idealistic (if abrasive) tech pioneer to an emotional and reactive sycophant. Isaacson is sure to highlight the exact moments Elon’s political opinions begin taking over his professional life. His complicated political values, and his borderline delusional commitment to them, take up much of the latter third of the book. If you’re in this read exclusively for rocketry, you’re going to find yourself bored.

There are many places I feel Isaacson was more honest than Elon would probably have liked, and many moments that I feel Elon had meddled with. Such is life when the subject of the biography is still alive.

In the end, I think this work treads a delicate line, and everyone except the most hardline haters and fanboys will find it fascinating.… (altro)