Once she calmed down, she told Jobs that he had a full sister, Mona Simpson, who was then an aspiring novelist in Manhattan. She had never told Mona that she had a brother, and that day she broke the news, or at least part of it, by telephone. “You have a brother, and he’s wonderful, and he’s famous, and I’m going to bring him to New York so you can meet him,” she said. Mona was in the throes of finishing a novel about her mother and their peregrination from Wisconsin to Los Angeles, Anywhere but Here. Those who’ve read it will not be surprised that Joanne was somewhat quirky in the way she imparted to Mona the news about her brother. She refused to say who he was—only that he had been poor, had gotten rich, was good-looking and famous, had long dark hair, and lived in California. Mona then worked at the Paris Review, George Plimpton’s literary journal housed on the ground floor of his townhouse near Manhattan’s East River. She and her coworkers began a guessing game on who her brother might be. John Travolta? That was one of the favorite guesses. Other actors were also hot prospects. At one point someone did toss out a guess that “maybe it’s one of those guys who started Apple computer,” but no one could recall their names.

平靜下來后，她告訴喬布斯他有個同父同母的親妹妹，莫娜·辛普森，現(xiàn)在在曼哈頓，是個雄心勃勃的小說家。以前她從未告訴過莫娜她有個哥哥，就在那天她打電話公布了這個消息——或至少是一部分信息。“你有個哥哥，他很棒，很有名，我要帶他來紐約見你。”她說。莫娜當(dāng)時正在寫一部小說的結(jié)尾，是關(guān)于她母親以及她們?nèi)绾螐耐箍敌侵萦螝v到洛杉磯的經(jīng)歷，書名叫《在別處》。讀過這本書的人不會驚訝，喬安妮向莫娜說起自己長子的方式有點(diǎn)兒怪異。她不肯說他是誰，只是說他曾經(jīng)很窮，現(xiàn)在有錢了，很好看也很有名，有長長的深色頭發(fā)，住在加利福尼亞。莫娜當(dāng)時在《巴黎評論》（TheParisReview）工作，那是喬治·普林頓（GeorgePlimpton）主辦的文學(xué)期刊，辦公室在他位于曼哈頓東河附近別墅的一層。莫娜和同事們開始猜她哥哥是誰。約翰·特拉沃爾塔（JohnTravolta）?那是大家認(rèn)為最可能的一個鍵底。他們還猜到了其他演員。其間某個人說了句“也許是蘋果公司那幾個創(chuàng)始人之一呢”，但是沒人想得起他們的名字。

The meeting occurred in the lobby of the St. Regis Hotel. “He was totally straightforward and lovely, just a normal and sweet guy,” Mona recalled. They all sat and talked for a few minutes, then he took his sister for a long walk, just the two of them. Jobs was thrilled to find that he had a sibling who was so similar to him. They were both intense in their artistry, observant of their surroundings, and sensitive yet strong-willed. When they went to dinner together, they noticed the same architectural details and talked about them excitedly afterward. “My sister’s a writer!” he exulted to colleagues at Apple when he found out.

他們的會面安排在瑞吉酒店（St.RegisHotel）的大堂。喬安妮·辛普森把莫娜介紹給喬布斯，結(jié)果居然真的是蘋果的創(chuàng)始人。“他非常直率可愛，就是個普通的、和善的人。”莫娜回憶道。他們一起坐在大堂聊了一會兒，然后他帶著妹妹一起出去散步，就他們兩個人。喬布斯興奮地發(fā)現(xiàn)有個跟自己這么像的親妹妹。他們都對自己的藝術(shù)非常執(zhí)著，對周圍環(huán)境善于觀察，敏感而又倔犟。當(dāng)他們共進(jìn)晚餐時，他們會注意到相同的建筑細(xì)節(jié)或有趣的事物，之后會興奮地談?wù)摗！拔颐妹檬莻€作家！”他喜形于色地告訴蘋果的同事們。

When Plimpton threw a party for Anywhere but Here in late 1986, Jobs flew to New York to accompany Mona to it. They grew increasingly close, though their friendship had the complexities that might be expected, considering who they were and how they had come together. “Mona was not completely thrilled at first to have me in her life and have her mother so emotionally affectionate toward me,” he later said. “As we got to know each other, we became really good friends, and she is my family. I don’t know what I’d do without her. I can’t imagine a better sister. My adopted sister, Patty, and I were never close.” Mona likewise developed a deep affection for him, and at times could be very protective, although she would later write an edgy novel about him, A Regular Guy, that described his quirks with discomforting accuracy.

1986年底，普林頓為《在別處》舉行慶祝會時，喬布斯專程飛到紐約陪同莫娜出席。他們的關(guān)系越來越親密，盡管當(dāng)中也有磕磕絆絆，這也在所難免——想想他們都那么有個性，又是在這樣的情況下才得以團(tuán)聚。“一開始莫娜對我的出現(xiàn)并不是很興奮，尤其她媽媽在感情上又對我那么投入，”喬布斯后來說，“但隨著我們漸漸相互了解，我們就成了很好的朋友，而且她是我的親人。我不知道沒有她我該怎么辦。我難以想象會有比她更好的妹妹。我那個同樣是領(lǐng)養(yǎng)的妹妹帕蒂跟我從不親密。”莫娜同樣對他的感情也越來越深，有時還會非常護(hù)著他，雖然她后來寫了本關(guān)于他的小說《凡人》（ARegularGuy）其中描述了他的各種怪癖，讓人看了很不舒服，但很準(zhǔn)確。

One of the few things they would argue about was her clothes. She dressed like a struggling novelist, and he would berate her for not wearing clothes that were “fetching enough.” At one point his comments so annoyed her that she wrote him a letter: “I am a young writer, and this is my life, and I’m not trying to be a model anyway.” He didn’t answer. But shortly after, a box arrived from the store of Issey Miyake, the Japanese fashion designer whose stark and technology-influenced style made him one of Jobs’s favorites. “He’d gone shopping for me,” she later said, “and he’d picked out great things, exactly my size, in flattering colors.” There was one pantsuit that he had particularly liked, and the shipment included three of them, all identical. “I still remember those first suits I sent Mona,” he said. “They were linen pants and tops in a pale grayish green that looked beautiful with her reddish hair.”

會引起他們爭論的事情之一，就是她的著裝。莫娜穿得像一個生活困頓的小說家，而他會怪她衣著不夠迷人。有一次他的評論實(shí)在惹惱了她，她給他寫信說：“我是個年輕的作家，這是我的生活，我沒想當(dāng)模特。”他沒有回信。但沒過多久，從三宅一生的時裝店寄來一箱衣服，這位設(shè)計(jì)師因其筒潔風(fēng)格和科技元素而成為喬布斯的最愛之一。“他會去為我買衣服，”她后來說，“他能選出非常棒的，正好是我的尺碼，顏色也很適合我。”有一套褲裝他特別喜歡，包裹里居然有三套完全一樣的。“我還記得我寄給莫娜的第一箱衣服，”喬布斯說，“是些淡灰綠色的亞麻褲子和上裝，很襯她的紅頭發(fā)。”