Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I had heard, as I think everyone else has, that Business Adventures was a favorite book of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. I read the ebook, and I understand a print version will be forthcoming in September. This book makes me feel as though I'm sitting at the knee of my grandfather, listening to wise recollections. A writer of articles in the 1950's and 1960, many for the New Yorker, the author intelligently and thoughtfully steps through 12 events, one per chapter. At first I thought perhaps I was particularly dense and wasn't getting the message. What held these stories together? Eventually, I realized that the author is not driving home a point, selling anything, or giving advice. His observations leave room for the reader to consider events, their connections, their parallels to today, the importance of character, and the question of morality in business. It was refreshing not to be told what to think. I enjoyed the stories of Ford's Edsel, Piggly Wiggly, Xerox, Goodrich vs Latex. The chapter on the federal income tax is particularly relevant, given the wide-spread debate about taxes and modern conversations about the 1%. John Brooks' perspective is firmly rooted in the past, when the book was written, and provides readers opportunity for a sense of omniscience since we can consider ramifications the author himself could not be aware of, at that time. Times may change. People do not.