When Elon Musk was a kid in South Africa he was regularly beaten by bullies ... But the
physical scars were minor compared to the emotional ones inflicted by his father an engineer
rogue and charismatic fantasist. His father's impact on his psyche would linger. He developed
into a tough yet vulnerable man-child prone to abrupt Jekyll-and-Hyde mood swings with an
exceedingly high tolerance for risk a craving for drama an epic sense of mission and a
maniacal intensity that was callous and at times destructive. ... For two years Isaacson
shadowed Musk attended his meetings walked his factories with him and spent hours
interviewing him his family friends coworkers and adversaries. The result is the revealing
inside story filled with ... tales of triumphs and turmoil that addresses the question: are
the demons that drive Musk also what it takes to drive innovation and progress?--
