Got a ferry reservation for noon so tomorrow we head back to the farm. Got a day home and then off to NYC on Wed and Wilmington, Vt. on Thursday. Simon injured his eye, possibly on some hay and has been treated for a deep ulceration. Probably got himself poked in the eye with some hay. The eye is swollen, and some oozing. Should be fine. The farm was spared the worst of the snow, just got a couple of inches. I’ve enjoyed the Vineyard, though I think I would not care to live on an island, even one as beautiful as this.

Been reading the Steve Jobs biography and many people have asked me if I thought it was worth reading. I do think so. The writing and research are both terrific, I think although at times I wish the book has been written by someone a bit closer to the Silicon Valley culture. Walter Isaacson has said he believes Steve Jobs was a genius and has elevated him to the status of some of the world’s greatest minds. I don’t know about that, but Jobs is a fascinating character, a brilliant digital entrepeneur in world of corporation caution, a visionary in a culture that doesn’t seem much past today’s bottom line, a tormented and driven orphan who wept when confronted and who tortured, a risk taker who rejected market research, a breathtaking intuitive, a passionate defender and protector of the consumer, and a conflicted human who insulted and destroyed too many people to count. And I’m only halfway through the book.

It is a great tale and a tough book to put down. Mostly, I kept wondering how any human being who pursued a spiritual life as intensely as Jobs did – gurus, Buddhism, meditation, Yoga, veganism – could possibly have remained so aspiritual and messed up. Talk about a Shakespearean character. I wonder if we can ever really change our basic nature. I also wonder who so few corporations – none that I know of – see the profit potential in creativity, risk-taking, hiring good people and standing behind the things they make and sell. Apple makes great stuff, but I have seen few writers discussing  Jobs who mention the extraordinary connection Apple has with its consumers – they answer the phone. He always thought of us – how the computer would look, how he could make it easier to use, how he could help us use the things he made and we needed. He put himself in our head, something that seems almost unheard of in contemporary corporate culture. A great and unanswered question of the book: why aren’t there more like him?

I’m nearly halfway through and will write about the book when I’m done, but I wanted to tell people who had asked that it is worth buying and reading and very well done. An amazing story, right from the first page. And so relevant to the times we live in. The book is doing well and needs no more hype from me. But it’s very good.