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Small Fry

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Small Fry

By: Lisa Brennan-Jobs
Narrated by: Eileen Stevens
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A frank, smart, and captivating memoir by the daughter of Apple founder Steve Jobs

Born on a farm and named in a field by her parents - artist Chrisann Brennan and Steve Jobs - Lisa Brennan-Jobs' childhood unfolded in a rapidly changing Silicon Valley. When she was young, Lisa's father was a mythical figure who was rarely present in her life. As she grew older, her father took an interest in her, ushering her into a new world of mansions, vacations, and private schools. His attention was thrilling, but he could also be cold, critical, and unpredictable. When her relationship with her mother grew strained in high school, Lisa decided to move in with her father, hoping he'd become the parent she'd always wanted him to be.

Small Fry is Lisa Brennan-Jobs' poignant story of a childhood spent between two imperfect but extraordinary homes. Scrappy, wise, and funny, young Lisa is an unforgettable guide through her parents' fascinating and disparate worlds. Part portrait of a complex family, part love letter to California in the '70s and '80s, Small Fry is an enthralling audiobook by an insightful new literary voice.

©2018 Lisa Brennan-Jobs (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Entertainment & Celebrities Celebrity Funny Heartfelt Inspiring High School

The Audible editors have fallen in love with Lisa Brennan-Jobs's memoir. Here's why.

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"As someone who was raised by a single mother around the same time—West Coast, the salads they eat—all that stuff really brings me to that time and place that’s familiar to me, and makes me feel less alone. The struggles she had in life were familiar to me, and I often had to stop myself and go, 'oh yeah, her dad is Steve Jobs.'"—Courtney, Audible editor

"Memoirs are my jam! I can be pretty picky about memoirs, and this just, it took the words out of my mouth, it took my breath away, it showed me new depths to memoir that I didn’t even know existed. It’s a really special memoir—and we hope you’ll enjoy it, and that it will speak to you as much as it did to us."—Rachel, Audible editor

"Narrator Eileen Stevens is wonderful. There are very few narrators who really are able to strike that tone where she’s embodying this person, she’s embodying her story in a way that feels—I know we like this word a lot, but—it’s authentic. It feels real."—Abby, Audible editor

Editor's Pick

Think Steve Jobs was a tough boss? Now imagine him as your dad.
"Apple founder Steve Jobs had a famously difficult personality, and it turns out this was never more true than in his relationship with his daughter, Lisa Brennan-Jobs. He wouldn’t even admit he was her father in the beginning, and when he finally did, it came with all kinds of strings attached. Lisa’s gorgeous memoir gave me goosebumps as she described what it’s like to love and seek approval from one of the world’s most notoriously withholding personalities."
—Rachel S., Audible Editor

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Beautiful Writing • Emotional Storytelling • Excellent Narration • Honest Memoir • Vivid Descriptions
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I’ve read and listened to a lot of books ... This one is one of my favorites. Beautifully written, touching and beautiful. I never thought of Steve as bad just as a human and Lisa as a kid growing through the trials and tribulations of growing up. Thank you for sharping your staring with us Lisa. I have two kids I don’t live with and live far apart from... touched me so deeply.

Truly an amazing book. Simply awesome! Thank you!

Simply Awesome

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A daughters account of seeking love and attention from one parent while being enmeshed with the other. The difficult choices and painful moments amidst the happy ones.

Made me angry yet hopeful

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This book held me in thrall from beginning to end. I could identify easily with Lisa Brennan-Jobs as she describes incidences, big and small, of her growing up between, but not with, her two parents. From the often cruel coldness of her father to the mental instability of her mother, the years of her youth alternately living in poverty and luxury, she somehow never loses her love of both and somehow emerges intact, successful and at peace.

I recommend this book to everyone I think would appreciate it. Despite perhaps an over abundance of metaphors, I thought it beautifully written.

Having lived in the Palo Alto area for forty plus years, revisiting those familiar places in her memoir added even more to the pleasure in my reading of it.

A Moving Memoir of Redemption

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This book will attract readers because of the famous father connection. But it stands on its own as a beautifully written story about a fractured family with multi-dimensional characters who are sympathetic and relatable despite the hurtful and hateful (and lying and cheating) actions they at times take. At the end I wanted to spend more time with Lisa and her mother. I hope she writes a sequel.

Captivating memoir of a childhood

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Her words are precise, the foreshadowing unexpected, and her delivery splendidly adds dimension. I learned and felt so much that can be applicable to many different relationships.

Beautiful on every level.

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If Lisa Brennan-Jobs wasn't the daughter of Steve Jobs, this would be a very ordinary story about a very dysfunctional family. What makes this book stand apart is we have Lisa's mom, who obviously gave birth to Lisa, on one hand. Lisa's mom struggled to barely even keep a roof over their head while she was growing up (pre-teen), and sometimes wasn't even successful at that. Then you've got her dad - everyone knows as Steve Jobs (who even she refers to as "Steve" - not dad), who has unbelievable amounts of money and could solve all of their problems with a snap of his fingers. But Steve also lacks any level of empathy or compassion for the fate he put on Lisa.

Lisa's recall of even the most mundane details is amazing. I certainly don't have that much color of recollection of my upbringing much less last month. Throughout the story you keep waiting for Steve Jobs to just snap out of it and realize what he's got - and sometimes he does, but in the very next breath he is as vile and vulgar of a human being towards a daughter as anyone ever could be. Again - this isn't really much of a surprise to me.

It's a long journey to get to the end where Steve is realizing his mistakes. By then Lisa has found her voice in who she is in the world. She seems to have triumphed over what could have been a very bad adulthood given her circumstances of feast or famine.

Am I happy I read it? Yes - it gives me another layer of texture on Steve Jobs. In the end I hope she's doing o.k.

Read many books around Steve Jobs

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Thank you Lisa. This book captivated me. I was very sad when it ended. Proud of how you made it through with such honesty. One of my most favorite audible books so far.

Be well, be successful and proud!

Wonderful structure and story telling

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Too obsessed with detail, quickly becomes hard to finish. Obviously has very toxic/immature human beings as parents hence the “whine”. People shouldn’t invalidate her experiences.

Her experiences are valid but too much detail

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The story I found strange it’s a cross between a school girl crush and torment for her whole life. It’s an interesting insight into someone people put on a peristalsis but the more you understand how horrible a person Steve was.

It’s a train wreck you can stop looking at

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I felt sorry for his daughter growing up but it was probably the best he could do for her. In a sense she could easily wound up another sad case of a druggie with or mental health problems when parents only give money and not time or life experience. He did in his own way perhaps get his heat felt goodbyes in to his final days with his daughter. A treasure we can all hope for regardless of circumstances.

A stubborn genius

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