Book Review: Buffett - The Making on an American Capitalist

The book is a fantastic biography on one of the 20th century's most well-known investors. Far from being just a financial volume or a how-to-invest-like-Buffett, Lowenstein's work is a genuine biography, and a very well-written one at that. That's not to say one cannot learn something about Buffett's investing style by reading this book; in fact, I believe I learned more about how the man has been so successful from this book than from any other source on Buffett.

The great strength in Lowenstein's biography is that he highlights just what Buffett is-an anomaly. His success on Wall Street is unique, and not merely because that success happened from a couple thousand miles away in Omaha. No, Lowenstein recognizes Buffett for the remarkable man that he is, and analyzes Buffett's character in a way that, if you pay attention, actually explains how to "win" like Buffett has. Lowenstein highlights various attributes in Buffett's personality-his honesty, his amazing ability to keep things simple and find the "inherent value" in companies he analyzes, and his old-fashioned value finding approach to name a few-and examines them both in the context of Buffett's personal life and in his business life. The result is very intriguing, and the resulting impression is that Buffett succeeded on the Street because of who he was, both on and off. While this book may not spell out for you the criteria to invest like Buffett, it certainly shows, with great clarity, what kind of man it takes to be Warren Buffett. The fact that it's a very interesting read and an excellent biography only add to its appeal.