⭐⭐⭐⭐ Elon Musk by Isaacson
| Full Title | Elon Musk |
|---|---|
| Authors | Walter Isaacson |
| Year Published | 2023 |
| Date Read | October 20, 2023 |
| Rating | 4/5 stars |
Takes a little bit to get going but then becomes quite compelling. Much of the book is focused on the last two years, when Isaacson shadowed Musk directly — this means that there’s less focus on his earlier background than I’d like, but does result in a very high-fidelity telling of some of the most recent events (Twitter acquisition in particular).
As someone that generally has a positive view of Elon but doesn’t follow what he does very closely, I found that the book overall improved my perception of him. It’s unclear if this is because Isaacson was not critical enough of Musk (as many online have accused him of), or if in general Musk is simply bad at personal PR and he’s really a mostly non-insane dude that sometimes Tweets crazy stuff.
For those interested in Musk and how he runs his companies, I’d recommend reading sooner rather than later due to book’s recency bias. Probably wouldn’t recommend otherwise, especially so if you’re already anti-Musk.