The immediate problem I’m having with this Musk bio (on page 7 of 615) is that (1) he’s a sociopathic serial liar, (2) Isaacson seems disinterested in seriously investigating whether anything he says is true. Like, “wow, his childhood sounds unbelievably difficult. …SHOULD I believe this???”

In general I’m just against bios being written about people while they are still alive. Someone was going to write one so I can understand Issacson going after that paycheck but it’s a stain on his reputation IMO

Such a missed opportunity...

Narcissists who come from a transactional marriage (admitting bias here my father is like that) always think their abandonment is unique and unusual. First they hate their absent father, then their ire shifts to their emotionally distant and cold mother.

Very inspired thread. That settles it, the book on Elon Musk has not yet been written.

@unroll.bsky.social please unroll

It was the same in the Ashlee Vance biography, I doubt Musk would agree to them unless he was sure he could get the story told his way.

The one story of his childhood that rings true is that he claims he was bullied in school. I have no trouble believing people wanted to stuff him in a locker.

Yeah the review of the biography by Jill Lepore makes it clear that Isaacson is untrustworthy. Apparently the book hardly mentions apartheid even though Musk grew up in S. Africa, and describes his grandfather’s anti-Semitic politics (he blamed both world wars on the Jews) as “quirky.”

I just started listening to the audiobook (at 1.2 because for some reason he's reading ridic slowly) and literally said "that's BS" out loud two pages in..I can see the theme is cue the violins

I'm not reading it but I keep seeing people post passages from it that are apparently meant to make Musk look good but actually make him look like a spoiled idiot manchild.