Two Great Reads

As usual, I have to qualify by saying I have little time to read fiction. Business books and biographies are exciting enough to fill my free time. Here are two recommendations.

The Essays Of Warren Buffett by Prof. Lawrence Cunningham / Buffett (Cunningham Group) 2008 edition - This is the newer edition, the first was back in 1998. The additional content addresses more international issues. The essays of Warren Buffett groups the common themes from Buffett's famous letters to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders. The content is selected, arranged and introduced by Prof. Lawrence A. Cunningham with Buffett's permission and the result, according to Buffett himself, is a 'superb job.' Issues covered: independent directors: enhanced power of audit committees; excessive usage of stock options and the proper accounting treatment; perils of derivatives usage explosion; currency trading and the USD; management succession at Berkshire; etc. Get the new edition.

Barbra, The Way She Is by Christopher Andersen (HarperCollins) 2006 - Barbra Streisand is an outstanding talent. I love her songs and her movies even though I am not gay. There have been quite a number of books on her already, but this one by Christopher Andersen is quite a gem. I have always preferred to read biographies rather than autobiographies. Who is to say the writer might not embellish his/her own life. Of course in selecting unauthorised biographies, a lot rides on who the writer is. Andersen has written 26 books already, a former contributing editor to Time and a senior editor of People magazine. This book tries to capture every facet of Barbra, is she a bitch, is she manipulative, is she talented, is she stingy, is she a diva, is she false, ... what are her motivations, why is she the way she is... I still love her but I would never want to work with her. Quite a book, quite a person.