Not counting footnotes and index there are 838 pages of text and that is a very large amount of Buffett.  Perhaps the size of the book is a good metaphor for a man who has never seen himself in a small size.  He has many fully developed personas, each of them high maintenance.  His virtues and talents are oversized and his flaws and weaknesses are just as large.  He has had a longer and more successful business career than anyone else in America today.  And once you are immersed in the details you realize that he has handled his extreem wealth in an exceptionally accomplished way, small acts and large as well.

I am delighted he has known and enjoyed so many of America’s accomplished people, but I would not want the burden of a personal relationship with him.  He is time and energy consuming.  As for buying a packet of gum from him, well I will pass.  I am afraid of the contract he would want me to sign.

The book will take some effort to finish and you may feel you know more about him than you need to.  You will, however, see him in a far different way after reading the book than you did before.  It is an insight you can only have by reading the book.  So dig in.  Charles Marlin