????艾薩克森在一封私人郵件中透露:“封面是艾伯特?沃森在2009年為《財富》(Fortune)雜志拍攝的喬布斯肖像照。而封底則是諾曼?瑟夫為喬布斯拍攝的肖像,照片中,喬布斯抱著最原始的麥金塔電腦(Macintosh),盤膝而坐。1984年,這幅照片登上了《滾石》雜志一月份的封面。書的標題采用赫維提卡字體。而封底則如圖片所示,上面沒有任何文字。” ????當然,他所指的是為蘋果公司聯合創始人撰寫的《史蒂夫?喬布斯傳記》(Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson),這是第一本在喬布斯本人支持和協助之下完成的個人傳記【參考《深得喬布斯信任的人》(The man who won Steve Jobs' trust)一文】。周一,有媒體報道,亞馬遜(Amazon)與巴諾(Barnes & Noble)的新書目錄顯示,該書的發售日期從2012年3月6日提前到2011年11月21日。這一變化使外界紛紛猜測,計劃的變更或許與喬布斯健康狀況的惡化有關。 ????艾薩克森澄清道:“這與喬布斯的健康狀況沒有任何關系。今年六月份,這本書的撰寫工作便已接近尾聲。目前全書內容已經撰寫和編輯工作已經完成。當初確定2012年3月(或者是別的什么日期)開始發售,并不是什么深思熟慮的決定。就像最初的封面設計一樣。之所以采用那樣的設計,完全是因為在去年春天,出版商更新數據庫時需要一張照片以便存檔。” ????以下為B&N網站上刊登的出版商關于本書的描述和作者簡介。包括一份報價在內的內容簡介已被替換為以下內容。更詳細的介紹可點擊這里閱讀。作者簡介部分中未提及艾薩克森與史蒂夫?喬布斯的妻子勞倫娜?鮑威爾都是非營利性機構——“為美國而教”(Teach for America)董事會成員這一事實。 ????關于本書: ????本書撰寫歷時兩年,在此期間,艾薩克森與喬布斯進行了40多次面對面訪談,并采訪了喬布斯的100多位家庭成員、朋友、競爭對手和同事。艾薩克森生動展現了這位創新型企業家跌宕起伏的人生和熱情似火的個性,他是一個殘酷的完美主義者,而正是這種苛求完美的激情使六個行業發生了翻天覆地的變化:個人電腦、動畫電影、音樂、手機、平板電腦和數字出版。 ????目前,美國正在努力維持自己在創新領域的領先地位,而其他各國也在竭盡全力向數字化經濟轉型。在這樣的大時代背景下,喬布斯就成了創造能力與應用想象的終極化身。他非常清楚,在二十一世紀,要想創造價值,最有效的方法是將創造力與技術相結合。在他打造的公司,想象力的不斷跳躍總是能與非凡的設計相融合。 ????雖然本書是在喬布斯協助之下完成的,但在創作過程中,但他并未干涉書中的內容,也沒有要求在出版之前閱讀全文。他本人沒有對傳記做任何限制。他鼓勵了解他的人實話實說。對于他的同僚和競爭對手,喬布斯通常直言不諱,甚至有些冷酷無情。通過朋友、對手和同事對他的客觀描述,一個集合了激情、完美主義、強迫癥、藝術氣質、暴躁和控制欲的喬布斯栩栩如生地展現在讀者面前。這些氣質形成了他商業理念,也帶來了眾多創新產品。 ????魔鬼一面的喬布斯能讓他身邊的人暴怒和絕望。但他的個性卻與產品相互關聯,密不可分,正如蘋果公司生產的硬件與軟件一般,它們就像是一個整體。他的故事既富于啟發,又發人深省,其中包含了喬布斯在創新、個性、領導力和價值觀等方面的經驗教訓。 ????關于作者: ????沃爾特?艾薩克森,羅德獎學金獲得者,歷史學家,暢銷書作者。他從記者做起,開啟了自己非凡的職業生涯——首先是在倫敦《星期日泰晤士報》(Sunday Times),之后在他的家鄉新奧爾良的《皮卡尤恩時報》(The Times-Picayune)與《國家新聞》(States-Item)擔任記者。1978年,他加入《時代》(Time)雜志,在不到二十年的時間內,便從一位政治記者一路成長為雜志主編。他曾在有線電視新聞網CNN擔任過兩年董事長兼CEO。2003年,成為國際知名的非盈利機構阿斯彭研究所(The Aspen Institute)的所長,該研究所“致力于培養開明的領導力,鼓勵開誠布公的對話”。在卡特麗娜颶風災難之后,被任命為路易斯安那州重建署(Louisiana Recovery Authority)副署長,并在多個政策制定委員會和理事會擔任職位。 ????在文學界,艾薩克森是著名的權威傳記作家,他的作品具有學術性,嚴謹而又極具可讀性。他的第一部作品與其他人合作完成。當時,他與著名記者伊凡?湯瑪斯合作,在1986年出版了《智者:六人智囊團和他們創造的世界》(The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made )一書。該書介紹了二戰之后,組成美國政府、并負責制定美國政策的六個人,以及他們的生活。該書描述的年代不夠久遠,無法稱其為歷史,但又不夠切近當下,也無法歸入時事,導致對該書的評價褒貶不一,但其大膽的眼界和優雅的風格卻廣受贊譽。 ????艾薩克森之后的傳記作品均由其獨立完成(并獲得輿論的一致好評),還原了一系列個性迥異的人物,比如亨利?基辛格、本杰明?富蘭克林,以及阿爾伯特?愛因斯坦等。從表面上來看,這些人并沒有太多共同點,他為什么會選擇差異如此鮮明的主題進行創作呢?他解釋說:“我喜歡描寫那些有著有趣想法的人物。通過他們,我努力探索組成智力的每一個方面:常識、智慧、創造力、想象力、心理調節能力、情感認知和道德觀等,以及在這些特質中,哪些才是最重要的?它們又是如何成就一個有影響力的人,一個舉足輕重的人,或者一個具有優良品質的人?” ????譯者:劉進龍/汪皓 |
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????"The cover," writes Isaacson in private e-mail, "is the Albert Watson portrait taken for Fortune in 2009. The back is a Norman Seeff portrait of him in the lotus position holding the original Macintosh, which ran in Rolling Stone in January 1984. The title font is Helvetica. It will look as you see it, with no words on the back cover." ????He's talking, of course, about Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson, the first book about the life of Apple's (AAPL) cofounder written with Jobs' support and cooperation (see The man who won Steve Jobs' trust). It was back in the news Monday when new listings on Amazon (AMZN) and Barnes & Noble (BKS) revealed that the pubdate had been moved up to Nov. 21, 2011, from March 6, 2012. The change sparked speculation that the new schedule might somehow be related to a decline in Jobs' health. ????"It's actually not related to any decline," writes Isaacson. "I turned most of the book in this past June. It's now all done and edited. The March 2012 date (or whatever date it was) was never a deeply-considered pubdate. Like the original cover design, it came about because the publisher wanted to put something in the database last spring." ????Below: The publishers' description of the book and the author bio as it appears on the B&N website. A description of the book that included a quote has been replaced with the one you see below. You can read the longer one here. The author's bio leaves out the fact that Isaacson and Laurene Powell, Steve Jobs' wife, both sit on the board of Teach for America. ????The book: ????Based on more than forty interviews with Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing. ????At a time when America is seeking ways to sustain its innovative edge, and when societies around the world are trying to build digital-age economies, Jobs stands as the ultimate icon of inventiveness and applied imagination. He knew that the best way to create value in the twenty-first century was to connect creativity with technology. He built a company where leaps of the imagination were combined with remarkable feats of engineering. ????Although Jobs cooperated with this book, he asked for no control over what was written nor even the right to read it before it was published. He put nothing off-limits. He encouraged the people he knew to speak honestly. And Jobs speaks candidly, sometimes brutally so, about the people he worked with and competed against. His friends, foes, and colleagues provide an unvarnished view of the passions, perfectionism, obsessions, artistry, devilry, and compulsion for control that shaped his approach to business and the innovative products that resulted. ????Driven by demons, Jobs could drive those around him to fury and despair. But his personality and products were interrelated, just as Apple's hardware and software tended to be, as if part of an integrated system. His tale is instructive and cautionary, filled with lessons about innovation, character, leadership, and values. ????The author: ????Rhodes Scholar, historian, and bestselling author Walter Isaacson began his distinguished career as a journalist -- first for London's Sunday Times, then for The Times-Picayune/States-Item, published in his hometown of New Orleans. He joined Time magazine in 1978, working his way up from political correspondent to managing editor in a little less than two decades. He served for two years as chairman and CEO of the cable TV news network CNN; then, in 2003, he became president of the Aspen Institute, an international nonprofit organization "dedicated to fostering enlightened leadership and open-minded dialogue." In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, he was appointed vice-chairman of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, and he serves on a number of policy-making boards and councils. ????In literary circles, Isaacson is best known as the writer of magisterial biographies, scholarly and meticulously researched, yet immensely entertaining. His first book, however, was a collaborative effort. Co-written with award-winning journalist Evan Thomas, and published in 1986, The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made explores the lives of six men who shaped government and public policy in the years following WWII. Examining an era too recent to be called history and too distant to qualify as current affairs, the book received mixed reviews but was universally praised for its ambitious scope and elegant style. ????Isaacson's subsequent biographies, all solo efforts (and all critically acclaimed), have chronicled the lives of such disparate figures as Henry Kissinger, Benjamin Franklin, and Albert Einstein. He explains what has drawn him to such widely divergent subjects -- men, who on the surface would appear to have very little in common: "I like writing about people with interesting minds. I try to explore the various aspects of intelligence: common sense, wisdom, creativity, imagination, mental processing power, emotional understanding, and moral values. Which of these traits are the most important? How do they make someone an influential or significant or good person?" |
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