Brian Gongol
It's hard to tell whether this book is so engrossing because of its subject or because of the writing. It's probably a combination of the two. Even though Warren Buffett himself took little or no part in helping Lowenstein to research and write the book, one finishes it with an extremely strong sense of who Buffett is and how he came to be that way. Perhaps the most refreshing element of Buffett's character is his insistence that the act of creating tangible value for a customer is considerably more meritorious than shuffling numbers among columns in an accounting ledger and calling it "value." If more people would put down their celebrity gossip magazines and pick up this outstanding biography, we'd all be better-off.
A quick biographical summary from the book:
| Year | Age | Event | Page |
| 1930 | born | ||
| 1945 | 14 | buys 40 acres of Nebraska farmland | p. 23 |
| 1957 | 27 | buys house on Farnam Street | p. 63 |
| 1962 | 32 | manages $7.2 million in capital through Buffett Partnerships | p. 73 |
| 1964 | 34 | personal net worth about $4 million | p. 86 |
| 1965 | 35 | takes over Berkshire Hathaway | p. 130 |
| 1967 | 37 | personal net worth about $10 million | p. 106 |
| 1967 | 37 | Berkshire Hathaway buys first insurance company | p. 134 |
| 1969 | 39 | closes Buffett Partnerships | p. 114 |
| 1970 | 40 | personal net worth about $125 million | p. 141 |
| 1977 | 47 | personal net worth about $70 million | p. 215 |
| 1977 | 47 | buys Buffalo Evening News |