Rating: 
Summary: Lollapalooza !
Review: A book about an exceptional human being who strives for humilty, honesty and self-improvement. Janet Lowe describes a man who is consistently striving to improve his mind and personality. Charlie Munger is that rare person who is dedicated to leaving this world a better place than it would have been if he never existed. Mr. Munger is one of the true great Americans that became great through intregrety and honesty. The values he lives by and teaches are values that guided the lives of Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln.
Rating:
Summary: Top-shelf Subject, Second Tier writing/editing!
Review: Being an avid reader and curious mind, I anxiously awaited the release of this book. Overall, I was impressed and have re-read several parts of the book since completing the original review. Munger is a fascinating individual, a modern day polymath. Inasmuch as this is the case, the book could have been more, which is no fault of the subject. What I understand to have been a tight publishing schedule really shows. In many instances, I was frustrated at the typos and awkward grammer. This is a great irony in contrast to Munger himself, who most assuredly would find these types of errors to be unacceptable were he the author. From this perspective I was dissappointed.However, after reading the book, I found myself recalling passages and thinking of Munger, and asking myself critical questions of myself. The most impressive general attribute of Mr. Munger is that he has led his life by his standard, which I feel would be considered quite high by the general public. For anyone searching for an exemplary citizen, businessman, family man and human being in a this modern world, Charlie Munger should be considered. The book doesn't offer a three-step plan for those looking for a quick fix or 5-minute investment strategy. But the foundations of an ultra-successful life are within the book jacket of this biography.
Rating:
Summary: Top-shelf Subject, Second Tier writing/editing!
Review: Being an avid reader and curious mind, I anxiously awaited the release of this book. Overall, I was impressed and have re-read several parts of the book since completing the original review. Munger is a fascinating individual, a modern day polymath. Inasmuch as this is the case, the book could have been more, which is no fault of the subject. What I understand to have been a tight publishing schedule really shows. In many instances, I was frustrated at the typos and awkward grammer. This is a great irony in contrast to Munger himself, who most assuredly would find these types of errors to be unacceptable were he the author. From this perspective I was dissappointed. However, after reading the book, I found myself recalling passages and thinking of Munger, and asking myself critical questions of myself. The most impressive general attribute of Mr. Munger is that he has led his life by his standard, which I feel would be considered quite high by the general public. For anyone searching for an exemplary citizen, businessman, family man and human being in a this modern world, Charlie Munger should be considered. The book doesn't offer a three-step plan for those looking for a quick fix or 5-minute investment strategy. But the foundations of an ultra-successful life are within the book jacket of this biography.
Rating:
Summary: Insightful!
Review: Charlie Munger's life story is a version of the classic American Dream: a hard-working young man builds a billion-dollar fortune through hard work and honest business deals, all the while raising eight children with the help of an intelligent, devoted wife. Author Janet Lowe brings this story and Munger's personality to life with well-chosen anecdotes from family, friends and business associates. These include, most notably, Warren Buffett, with whom she already enjoyed a rapport thanks to her work on a previous bestseller, Warren Buffett Speaks. Because Munger's business history is so complex, the chapters are organized thematically rather than strictly chronologically, which can be a bit confusing. Thankfully, Lowe provides a handy timeline in an appendix. We suggest this book to investors, Buffett fans (who may underestimate the contributions others such as Munger have made to the Berkshire Hathaway empire) and to those dismayed by corporate corruption who could use this tale of honest success to renew their faith in capitalism.
Rating: 
Summary: Mistaken Facts
Review: Exept for the chapter "Doing Good at Good Samaritan Hospital" I only scanned this book rapidly but I hope that Mr Munger's recollections of his dazzling successes in the world of finance are more accurate than those relating to his early tenure at Good Samaritan Hospital.His and his stepson's opinions about the quality of the hospital and its medical staff at that time may be insulting but are their privilege.I was Chairman of the Medical Staff when Mr Munger became Chairman of the Board of Trustees,and I was a member of that Board for for about 18 years as well,and I am well aware of what transpired then.For Mr Munger to state that "decisions of the medical staff frequently protected the economic interests of certain doctors,rather than that of the patients or of quality medicine" ,and "a ruling of the organized medical staff was endangering the health and safety of our patients" is simply untrue and libelous.I would like very much to see him provide proof for these allegations At that time,he expressed to me the view that doctors are motivated mainly by financial considerations (greed),presumably based on his own experience in finance as described in this book.
Rating:
Summary: Mistaken Facts
Review: Exept for the chapter "Doing Good at Good Samaritan Hospital" I only scanned this book rapidly but I hope that Mr Munger's recollections of his dazzling successes in the world of finance are more accurate than those relating to his early tenure at Good Samaritan Hospital.His and his stepson's opinions about the quality of the hospital and its medical staff at that time may be insulting but are their privilege.I was Chairman of the Medical Staff when Mr Munger became Chairman of the Board of Trustees,and I was a member of that Board for for about 18 years as well,and I am well aware of what transpired then.For Mr Munger to state that "decisions of the medical staff frequently protected the economic interests of certain doctors,rather than that of the patients or of quality medicine" ,and "a ruling of the organized medical staff was endangering the health and safety of our patients" is simply untrue and libelous.I would like very much to see him provide proof for these allegations At that time,he expressed to me the view that doctors are motivated mainly by financial considerations (greed),presumably based on his own experience in finance as described in this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A Rare Treat
Review: For those of us who are fascinated by Warren Buffett and his amazingly successful company, Berkshire Hathaway, there are a number of very satisfying reads. But there's always been a big part of the story that remained mostly in shadow: Charlie Munger. Munger has long been Buffett's partner, and over the years Buffett has credited Munger with teaching him a lot. But most of us were left to wonder what Munger is like and to glean small snippets about him wherever we could. Enter Janet Lowe's new book. It covers Munger's life and character as well as his professional career and is greatly entertaining, informative, and inspiring. It won't be a surprise to Buffett fans to discover that Munger also is a man of great integrity. If you've ever yearned to learn more about Charlie Munger, this book is for you.
Rating:
Summary: Priceless
Review: I read a lot of both fiction and non-fiction, and I've read a great deal about Warren Buffet and Berkshire Hathaway. I know in my life I always search for people I can look up to, people I can learn from and try to emulate. Charlie Munger is one such fella. This isn't a technical book about valuing stocks or putting together corporate acquisitions. This is, however, a book about Charlie Munger. He is a smart, honest, practical, hard-working man and I learned a lot from this. I am better off having read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Will this book disappointe you? Damn Right!
Review: In recent years books about Buffet & Co. started to spring like mushrooms. Publishing books about Berkshire Hathaway's incredible success story is rapidly turning into a lucrative industry. 'Damn Right!' is just another one.
If you expect to learn more about Charlie Muger, Buffet's mysterious sidekick, then you will be very disappointed. Ms. Lowe talks in great detail about Munger's aunts, uncles, parents, grandparents, and their dogs but doesn't say much about him. The author seems to be more interested in Munger's life style and his family than in his approach to business and investing.
Ms. Lowe repeats the story of Berkshire Hathaway in a most superficial way. There are much better books on this topic (see Robert Hagstrom's 'The Warren Buffet Way'). I gave it three stars only because there are some bright spots, such as Appendix D and few interesting facts about the man and his way of thinking.
Rating:
Summary: Buffett's Lesser Known Sidekick
Review: Janet Lowe has done a reasonable job of chronicling the life of Charlie Munger. For people who have read a considerable amount about Warren Buffett and Berkshire, a lot of what is included in this book would already be known. I found that there was too much space devoted to Munger's family at the expense of Munger himself. The book is sub-titled: "Behind the Scenes with Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger" not: "Behind the Scenes with Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger's Family", which is what it risked turning into (especially in the first half or so of the book). Munger might have a wonderful family but no-one is buying the book to read about them. Munger is obviously known primarily as an extraordinarily successful investor and as such it is a little disappointing that Lowe did not probe deeper into the underlying thought behind some of the major investment decisions that Munger has been involved with during his career, especially given that Munger made himself accessible to the author for the purposes of this book. I was not looking for a Robert Hagstrom type analysis, but some more detailed textual information would have been appropriate. If you want an example of what I'm talking about read Roger Lowenstein's excellent biography Buffett (The Making of an American Capitalist). I also found it disappointing that Lowe re-published in one of the appendices a talk that Munger gave in 1996 which Andy Kilpatrick had already included in his 1998 edition of Of Permanent Value, perhaps Lowe could have found something previously unpublished for this book. For the record Page 254 states that See's Candy was purchased for $2m (it should read $25 million), page 255 states that the Buffalo Evening News was purchased for $2.5 million (it should read $32.5 million). Overall the book is worth having a look at but if you're a seasoned Buffett/Berkshire follower do not expect to learn a lot in addition to what you already know.
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