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I’m super interested in Elon Musk and this book provided me insight into the way he thinks, what drives him, how he gets things done, etc.

Some small criticisms--

There were times I noticed information that was being repeated, which made it feel like Vance may have written each chapter separately or without certainty of what order the chapters would be included in the book. Also, while I liked the conversational tone of the writing, it was not what I’m used to from biographies.

A larger criticism��

I don’t know if Vance intended to write this book as a disinterested third party, but it was evident to me that by the end, he was too close to his subject to do so. Musk’s “failures”—his cold dealings with people, his tendency to lose the trees in the forest (which is 100% not how that saying goes), his ruthlessness with people who have sacrificed a great deal for his business and his dreams—are treated as necessary (and therefore forgivable) for the incredibly amazing things Musk has decided to do with his life and money. And while I think I agree, I’m not sure that I wanted the biographer to make that decision for me.

After reading this book, it’s easy for me to forgive all of Musk’s interpersonal failures because I’m inspired by the things he dreams up, the way he pursues the “impossible�� things, and the fact that he has found a purpose in life and doesn’t let things like money and celebrity distract him from that purpose. However, I’m not a casualty of these failures and can’t imagine that I’d like to be written off so easily if I was.

Okay, this hasn’t sounded like a 4-star review so far, but let me assure you that this book is interesting, well researched, has insight that I presume only Silicon Valley insiders had before, and is incredibly inspiring.