Publisher edition artwork
The Snowball
Alice Schroeder · First published 2008
The authorised Buffett, and rather less flattering than the legend allows.
Highly Recommended
Easy · Long — around 800 pages
Why Read It?
The clearest account of how compounding works on capital, reputation and habit alike.
What It's About
A full-length biography of Warren Buffett, from Omaha paper rounds to Berkshire Hathaway, with the private life included.
Why It Matters
It is the definitive record of the most studied investment career of the modern era, written with unusual access and unusual candour.
The Review
Schroeder was given full access and used it honestly, which is why the book is better than the hagiographies. The investing is here — the cigar butts, the insurance float, the discipline that looks obvious in retrospect and is nearly impossible in practice — but so is the domestic cost, and Schroeder does not look away from it.
The real lesson is temperament. Buffett's advantage was never arithmetic; it was the ability to do nothing for years while other men felt clever.
Best Read
In sections, alongside the Berkshire shareholder letters.
Three Things You'll Take From It
- 01
Temperament beats intelligence over a long enough horizon.
- 02
The cost of a single-minded career is usually paid by somebody else.
- 03
Reputation compounds faster than money and breaks faster too.
Better Read or Heard?
Long but well read; suits a commute over several weeks.
If You Like This…
The Intelligent Investor — Benjamin Graham
The source text.
Find it on AmazonTitan — Ron Chernow
Rockefeller, the earlier model.
Find it on Amazon
The Edition to Own
The updated Bloomsbury paperback includes the post-crisis afterword.
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