Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

Vance (Geek Silicon Valley) paints a complicated picture of a complicated man in this biography of Silicon Valley tycoon Elon Musk. Vance follows Musk from a difficult childhood in South Africa to his education at Queen’s University in Ontario and later at the University of Pennsylvania. Musk’s early successes with Internet start-ups were only the beginning. He became the prime mover behind SpaceX, “the only private company to dock with the ISS”; Tesla, maker of the Model S electric car; and SolarCity, a solar power company with a unique business model. Throughout, Vance elucidates Musk’s unusual combination of vision, determination, intelligence, whimsy, and ruthlessness that enabled these successes. He describes Musk not as someone “chasing momentary opportunities in the business world” but as someone “trying to solve problems that have been consuming him for decades.” Vance ably conveys the reality of this man who is both a dreamer and a doer. Agent: David Patterson, Foundry Literary + Media. (May)