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Despite Cover, Japan Snaps Up Jobsツ’ Biography

Davey

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5 Feb 2005
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Amazon recently declared Walter Isaacson's biography of Apple Inc. co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs the best-selling book of the year. In Japan though, it didn't even make the top five.But that ranking doesn't tell the full story, as fact is, Japan is bonkers for the official biography of the late Apple boss – except for the tweaked cover design of the Japanese-language version.

The book was the sixth best-seller in Japan of books published in 2011, according to the year-end rankings released by Tokyo-based Tohan Corp., the country's biggest book distributor. The biography, split into two volumes was released on Oct. 24 and Nov. 1, giving it just one month to climb the list, which counts print copies distributed from December of the previous year through November...
The biography's hefty Japanese-version ― a combined total of 889 pages – was by far the best-selling book published by Kodansha Inc. this year...
But Japanese Apple fans have one big gripe: the book's cover design. The publishing company said it has received complaints and read many more grumblings online about how the front of the Japanese-language version is different from the one decorating the English-language Simon & Schuster hardcover. The font is much bigger, the extra ink used to write English and Japanese names of the author and translator clutter around Mr. Jobs' head, and there is a drop of color. Local Apple geeks have vexed the variation is an intrusion on the clean and simple design personally approved by the detail-oriented Mr. Jobs...

"We understand that people want a simple design. We believe that given our choices this was the best, most simple version," said Mr. Kakishima. With one million copies on sale it's inevitable people will have dissenting opinions, said the editor.

But would the late Mr. Jobs approve? "Without a doubt," replied Mr. Kakishima.
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I started listening to the audio book (English version) and am fascinated about the whole story as I never knew that much about Jobs his life. Funny thing is that when my mother send me my birthday present the other day, the moment I read the contents part (which read: book) from the packet, I knew she send me this book although she didn't know that I was actually listening to his audiobook.
It's a super thick book, so I think it will take me ages to read (the audiobook itself is already divided into 24 parts of 1 hour each). Anyone else with this book? and what do you think of the Japanese cover?
I do have my doubts about the last sentences of the article in which Mr. Kakishima says Jobs would approve about the cover without a doubt, because the only thing that Jobs wanted to edit from the whole book when Isaacson wrote is was the cover.
 

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The book cover has already turned into some sort of icon - it's everywhere. My wife bought the English hardcover... guess I have to indulge during the holidays.
 
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