Apple chief was 'curled up in pain' for last meeting with biographer Walter Isaacson, for book to be rushed into print

The biography of Steve Jobs, which the notoriously workaholic co-founder of Apple authorised saying "I wanted my kids to know me", already tops the Amazon bestseller list on pre-orders, a fortnight before it is rushed into print.

As shrines mourning his death, aged 56, sprang up outside Apple stores all over the world, publishers Simon and Schuster announced that the release date for Steve Jobs – discarded potential titles included The Book of Jobs and iSteve – in print and ebook formats will now be 24 October, instead of the planned late November.

Jobs last met his biographer Walter Isaacson, the former managing editor of Time magazine and author of books on Einstein and Benjamin Franklin, only a few weeks ago, when he knew his death was close. In a piece to be published by Time on 17 October, Isaacson recalls finding Jobs curled up in pain in a downstairs bedroom at his home in Palo Alto, California. Jobs told the writer he was too weak to climb the stairs to his old room. But, Isaacson says, "his mind was still sharp and his humour vibrant".

Jobs, the universally recognisable figurehead of Apple, stalking the stage in jeans and black polo-neck at product launches, was always careful to keep his private life out of the limelight, including his son and two daughters with his wife of 20 years, and daughter by an earlier relationship. But he told Isaacson: ""I wasn't always there for them and I wanted them to know why and to understand what I did."

The book is based on more than 40 interviews with Jobs, and scores more with family members, friends, admirers, business opponents, and present and former colleagues.

Simon and Schuster describe Jobs as "driven by demons", a man who could drive those around him to fury and despair.

"Although Jobs cooperated with this book, he asked for no control over what was written nor even the right to read it before it was published," the publishers say. "He put nothing off-limits. He encouraged the people he knew to speak honestly. And Jobs speaks candidly, sometimes brutally so, about the people he worked with and competed against. His friends, foes, and colleagues provide an unvarnished view of the passions, perfectionism, obsessions, artistry, devilry, and compulsion for control that shaped his approach to business and the innovative products that resulted."

On the Amazon website one of those who has pre-ordered the book posted: "Great man, it will be some time before we see someone who has a mind like this again!"

Another customer, who would surely have pleased Jobs, boasted that he has paid less by ordering the title through his iPad2.