Snowballer

So, you want to be a baller?
A shot caller.
You wanna be two or three inches taller?
You’d like to be the guy whose $500 billion investment pauses the DOW free fall, heh?


Well then The Snowball, by Alice Schroeder is not the book for you. The Snowball is a great sweeping examination of the personal life and interactions of Warren Buffet, the folksy mid-western soothsayer to most amateur Wall Street investors and some professionals as well.

Perhaps, as a potential reader of The Snowball, you are imagining that you may glean some kernel of wisdom from the book. Perhaps by gaining some greater understanding of the character of Warren Buffet, you might find larger dividends in your own life.

All I will guarantee is that you might not need to know everything laid out in The Snowball.

You will learn that Buffet works hard. That he is stubborn, at times to a fault. The Snowball points out how much of Buffet’s success was built upon caution, pragmatism and a good bit of luck.

Alternately, you will gain some insight into the backside of the folk hero investor Buffet is often portrayed as. You will learn of his, at times, harsh, cold greediness. There is some examination of Buffet’s recent acceptance of his mortality and sudden interest in charity. You are given a glimpse of difficult family relationships and extra-marital affairs which have gone unresolved after decades.

Schroeder spent hours, nay months, alongside Buffet in the development cycle of this book. I suppose that effort shows. The depth of detail, looking into the personal nuances of Warren Buffet are undeniable. The story of Buffet’s success is intermingled with the story of his life. A more complete coverage of Buffet’s existence is provided, not just the five hundred word praise-fests of the various investments papers and magazines which have lifted Buffet beyond legend and to demi-god status.

It seems as though Schroeder found the literary equivalent of Buffet’s colloquial soundbite, which is the basis for the title of the book, “Life is like a snowball. The important thing is finding wet snow and a really long hill.” I have to presume that Schroeder is the snow in this iteration, as her wetness is fairly apparent on the slope of Buffet’s biography.

Perhaps Schroeder’s shine is justified. There is a charm to Warren Buffet that resonates, even in his shareholder statements. Underlying the text of Buffet’s remarkable success, is the cold numerical calculation required as one amasses a fortune, and the examination of that side of the man has an obvious gloss in The Snowball.

If you are not interested in worshipping at the feet of Warren Buffet, I am not sure you need to read this book.