Walter Isaacson’s new biography, ‘Elon Musk’

The latest biography on the elusive tech mogul is causing a stir

(Image credit: Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images)

published 15 September 2023

Isaacson left out 'rather a lot'

Jill Lepore in The New Yorker

Walter Isaacson’s new biography is a “book that can scarcely contain its subject,” Jill Lepore wrote in The New Yorker, because “it raises infinitely more questions than it answers.” In his account of Musk’s childhood in South Africa, Isaacson “barely mentions apartheid,” Lepore pointed out. Instead, he “writes at length and with compassion about the indignities heaped upon young Elon by schoolmates.” His childhood “sounds bad,” but the book “leaves out rather a lot about the world in which Musk grew up.” Read more

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The opening pages “are jarring, especially to anyone expecting to be greeted with plucky tales of unlikely genius,” Brian Merchant said in the Los Angeles Times. We learn that “the Musks are persistent fabulists, prone to embellishment and fabrication,” and the beginning is just “the first of many narrative sequences that the reader must consider with an eye to truth versus narrative convenience.” Merchant finished the book “thinking it’s time to retire the entire genre of 'great innovator' biographies, period.” Read more

Isaacson “prioritized revealing anecdotes and behind-the-scenes reportage over a sophisticated critical lens,” Will Oremus noted in the Washington Post. He clearly intends for the book “to be more than a bunch of interesting stories about a controversial guy.” He frames it as a “character study and “a quest to understand and perhaps reconcile the contradictions at Musk’s core,” Oremus added. The “destination lacks suspense,” but “the ride is entertaining enough, particularly for those who haven’t closely followed Musk’s high jinks.” Read more

While “Elon Musk” is “probably as entertaining as any celebrity business bio could be, it is not in any way a book of ideas.” Rana Foroohar opined in the Financial Times. The biography is “an enthusiastic tale about a personality, not a meditation on the meaning of that personality’s work.” The book left Foroohar “wanting a deeper examination of the ramifications of Musk’s controversial position in the privatization of space.” Isaacson’s work lacks the economic gravitas of other technology enthusiasts.” Read more

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Theara Coleman has worked as a staff writer at The Week since September 2022. She frequently writes about technology, education, literature and general news. She was previously a contributing writer and assistant editor at Honeysuckle Magazine, where she covered racial politics and cannabis industry news.