Steve Jobs Reportedly Has Authorized a Biography by Walter Isaacson

(Feb. 16) -- Bookstores may have to add a new section to their shelves: iOgraphy.

Word is spreading in publishing circles today that Apple co-founder Steve Jobs -- who in the past has been a bit prickly about unsanctioned books about his life -- has authorized a biography to be written by former Time magazine managing editor and noted biographer Walter Isaacson. None of the people involved are talking publicly, but The New York Times reported on the agreement today, citing two publishing sources.

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The New York Times reported that Apple co-founder Steve Jobs has authorized former Time editor Walter Isaacson to pen a biography about him. Here, Jobs, who has gotten rankled by other books about him, speaks in front of a photo of himself and his co-founder at an Apple event last month.

Of course, the devil is in the details. How reliable a biography it would be will depend on the terms of the contract between Isaacson and Jobs, and who has final say on the manuscript. And Jobs has been notoriously petty over books about him that he didn't like, such as Alan Deutschman's "The Second Coming of Steve Jobs" and "iCon: Steve Jobs, the Greatest Second Act in the History of Business," by Jeffrey S. Young and William L. Simon.

Yet Isaacson, who now runs the Aspen Institute in Colorado, has written two well-received popular biographies, "Einstein: His Life and Universe" and "Benjamin Franklin: An American Life." But the closest comparison could be Isaacson's well-received "Kissinger," written with the diplomat's cooperation in 1992.

Jobs, Apple's CEO, underwent a liver transplant last year that fueled wide speculation about how steady a hand he had on the Apple tiller. But Jobs seemed fit and healthy when he unveiled the new iPad last month.