True to his innovative and spiritual nature, Steve Jobs has refused traditional treatment and surgery for nearly a year after being diagnosed with cancer, his new biography, which hit the market on Monday, reveals.

The official Steve Jobs biography was released a month earlier than planned after the Apple co-founder lost his long and very public battle against cancer and died on October 5.

Written by Walter Isaacson, the former managing editor of Time magazine, the book is entitled simply "Steve Jobs".

According to the book his early decision to put off surgery and rely instead on fruit juices, acupuncture, herbal remedies and other treatments — some of which he found on the Internet — infuriated and distressed his family, friends and physicians.

"The big thing was that he really was not ready to open his body," his wife, Laurene Powell, is quoted as saying in the book. "It's hard to push someone to do that." She did try, however, Isaacson writes. "The body exists to serve the spirit," she argued.

When he did take the path of surgery and science, Steve Jobs did so with passion and curiosity, sparing no expense, pushing the frontiers of new treatments, studying, guiding and deciding on each treatment.

According to Isaacson, Steve Jobs was one of 20 people in the world to have all the genes of his cancer tumor and his normal DNA sequenced. He paid USD 100,000 for the procedure.

The book is based on more than 40 interviews with Jobs conducted over two years, as well as interviews with more than 100 family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues.

Simon & Schuster claims that although Jobs cooperated with the book, he asked for no control.