The Bite in the Apple: A Memoir of My Life with Steve Jobs Hardcover – October 29, 2013

This is not a book for the casually interested. This is a deep book. A book true to its topic. It's about a relationship that spanned several decades. A love story. A story of the culture of the 70s that Steve Jobs emerged from. A story of the personal demons behind one of the greatest business men/artists/revolutionaries who ever lived.If you're reading this book because you're primarily a technologist, a huge Steve Jobs fan, an admirer of his business accomplishments, or want a tell-all of his whole life story you're likely to be sorely disappointed. Read the Isaacson biography.This is a personal narrative. It's for people who are interested in a deep study of his character - him as the whole human - the same people that may pick up an obscure book like Mona Simpson's A Regular Guy or John Sculley's From Pepsi to Apple. If you have never heard of those two people nor those two books then this book is probably not for you.With that in mind - if you are such a deep student of Steve Jobs character then you will find this book rewarding. There is new information about his teen years and 80s personal life that has not been revealed in any previous mass market book, film, or interview to my knowledge (and I've read/seen just about all of them).What I liked best about this book, other than the SJ insights, and also what it seems other reviewers found frustrating is the authenticity of the narrative. Chrisann tells her story with her voice. She's hippyish and crunchy, but also insightful and incredibly descriptive in a succinct, good way. I rationalize that she must have kept a diary, because her memories come off so vividly from the page.If you want to understand the culture that Steve Jobs immersed himself in just prior to launching Apple, there is no better book. And if you want some new insights into Steve Jobs the person from someone who knew him intimately and you don't mind some love stories, teenage angst, and family squabbles then you will love this book. But again this is a deep cut - a book only for those very very interested in the field of Steve Jobs Studies.PS I also learned a lot about the culture of the 70s alternative movement - I even felt transported back into another time and place during some pages. Two small critiques are some typos/grammatical mistakes and that higher quality photographs could've been chosen for the book center.

I loved it! I have been following the life and achievements of Steve Jobs for several years. I am an Apple fangirl, and have read a lot about his life, the 2 unauthorised Steve Jobs biographies (including iCON), and also the authorised biography by Walter Issacson.This is a very unique and personal look at Steve Job's life, by his first girlfriend. She quotes Mona Simpson, "Whoever you know before 25, you know for life". And certainly this is the case with Chrisann Brennan. She first met Jobs in 1972, and she describes how he was a teenager - sad that his birth parents abandoned him, intelligent, sweet and romantic and always inquisitive about everything. He also seemed to have a sense of his destiny - he knew he would be rich and die "in his forties". They have an on-again off-again relationship for 5 years. Chrisann describes what was happening in his life around the time Apple was born. She describes Job's parents, Clara and Paul Jobs, and their unique parenting. There was a lot of uncertainty in Job's life. The Job's family nearly did not get him, as his biological mother wanted a college graduate couple. For several months, this stand off went on, and the Job's took Steve's birth mother to court. They were scared to love Steve during this time, in case they could not keep him.There is a lot of the culture of the 70's before the era of mobile computing and smart phones. She talks of what Jobs and she did together, the experiences of taking LSD, and travelling around India (they went separately). They were madly in love. Then Apple was formed, and the story changes. He changes and becomes very entitled and cruel.Their relationship ends when she gets pregnant. Chrisann says she was often dismissed as a "quack job and hanger-on" by Steve Job's official biographers and the press. She gives her side of the story. She stopped going to work in Apple, because it was too humiliating. She is forced to raise their daughter in near poverty. Jobs was often "stingy". He also refused to admit paternity for a long time. Things change, and gradually Lisa becomes a part of his life.A few cons: 1. Chrisann's writing is often flowery and prosaic, and sometimes hard facts are difficult to tease. 2. Once again, there is not much exploration of Steve's relationship with his sister Patty. She is just talked about in the book in passing and 3. The book is very much about her "feelings and connections" and lacks a proper chronological order, flitting from one time to another. For example, she does not talk about the time Lisa went to stay with her father in her teens.She concludes by saying despite Apple being a great company, the same cannot be said about Jobs as a person.I enjoyed it very much and it is a page-turner.

I rarely write book reviews but this is truly an absorbing tale delving into the dark side of Steve Jobs, as well as an interesting case study of the narcissistic personality. I read the official biography by Isaacson a few months ago and find this book to be consistent with the other account. It also provides a unique and yet believable perspective in its own right.As I read this book I kept wondering why Ms. Brennan didn't simply cut him off and walk away - it wasn't like SJ would be interested in getting visitation rights anyway. It wasn't until later in the book when I started to get a sense of who Ms. Brennan is that I started to understand the choices she made - or the lack thereof. I imagine her to be a very warm-hearted hippie type who could perhaps benefit from just a bit more self-assuredness... I applaud her courage in writing this book and adding her truly authentic voice to the SJ narrative. Also, contrary to what some of the other reviewers have shared, I find her writing to be poetic and effective. A very thought-provoking read.

Great book, you can see the genius from another perspective, with another eyes. Helps you understand his life and the life of the people who surround him.

Edizione molto curata, bella impaginazione e ben fatto, contenuti davvero molto interessanti e utili per approfondire la conoscenza dell'inglese, collana editoriale che non delude mai le aspettative del lettore, spedizione rapidissima e imballaggio buono, davvero molto soddisfatto.

The way she wrote the book is amazing, so artistic.

Vorweg bemerkt, ich habe bereits die Biografie von Isaacson gelesen und die war schon erste Sahne. Brennan setzt in ihrem Buch den Schwerpunkt auf ihre Beziehung zu Jobs. Das macht sie so fesselnd, dass ich immer weiter lesen wollte. Dazu benutzt sie eine schöne Spprache (ich habe das Original gelesen) und gibt ein interessantes Bild des Lebensgefühls und Zeitgeists der 70er Jahre.Ich fand die Entscheidungen, die sie getroffen hat, nicht immer nachvllziehbar, manchmal habe ich gedacht, geh doch einfach mal arbeiten wie wir alle. Andererseits ist es bestimmt nicht leicht, wenn der Vater des eigenen Kindes Multimillionär ist und man selbst keinen Cent hat.Ihre Beschreibungen von Jobs sind bereichernd und mehr als einmal war ich baff und musste auflachen.Sie ist selbst Künstlerin und das macht ihre Beschreibungen und Sichtweisen umso reicher. Also eine klare Empfehlung!

Without Predjudice: If I could have given this no stars I would have. In my opinion, this author was short of a tramp! In the late 60's she would have been 14 or 15. She was taking drugs and sleeping with, by my count at least 3 guys! I finally had to ditch this because of the garbage she spewed! I got interested in this because of Mr. Issacson's book. It was a total waste of money. Mr. Jobs deserved more. I felt she wrote this book only to get money and to try and ruin Mr. Jobs' name. Instead of social assistance and bumming off of everyone, she should have got a real job. I would NOT recommend this to my worst enemy!