Today’s haul of books.
Share my glee, friends: today I have four new books on my desk, all of which I’m eager to read.
Alice Schroeder, The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life
Warren Buffett belongs in the same category as William Shakespeare: human and imperfect like all of us . . . but also demonstrably superior to everyone else at what he does best. This authorized biography, which a couple of friends have already recommended to me, promises to spill the beans not just about his investment philosophy and business acumen, but also his complex personality and personal life. Why not study the best?
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets
Tom Peters has put this book at the tippy-top of his must-reads, and recent events in the financial world have been making Taleb look smarter than ever.
Geoff Colvin, Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else
That Geoff Colvin article I raved about the other day? It’s abstracted from this book. Again, if you want to improve your own performance or that of your organization, why not study the techniques of the great?
Joel Spolsky, Smart and Gets Things Done: Joel Spolsky’s Concise Guide to Finding the Best Technical Talent
For years I’ve been reading the smart, witty takes on management and technology that Joel Spolsky puts into his “Joel on Software” essays. After I praised Joel’s work in a post the other day, someone at his company was nice enough to send me a copy of his book. Even though I do no work in recruiting — much less the recruiting of technical talent — I can hardly wait to imbibe Joel’s insights here. I know from experience that what he writes has application far beyond the world of programming.
Expect reviews of all of these in the coming days/weeks.
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The author of the Buffett bio is a UT McCombs School of Business alum. We interviewed her for our alumni magazine, and she said he didn’t have a single edit for her for the entire book! We posted a little Q&A on our blog, and will have a longer one on our site in January: http://blogs.mccombs.utexas.edu/mccombs-today/2008/10/qa-with-warren-buffett-biographer-and-mccombs-alum-alice-schroeder/
Great to hear, Tracy — and thanks for sharing that link. Chalk one up for the Longhorns!
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